A new fund aimed to lighten the impacts of the climate change set up in Uruguay on Tuesday, local media reported.

Some US$6 million will be injected to the fund, and the amount will be enlarged in the future, according to the Planning and Budget office.

The fund will be used to deal with the droughts, tornadoes or floods, Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez said while addressing the opening of a governors' meeting in the center-western city of Mercedes.

The combat to the climate change must be a "policy of state", and a working group must be set up to prevent risks, for the natural disasters would severely affect the country's economy and production, the president stressed.

Vazquez also urged to launch a joint work between the central goverment and local governments in 19 departments in this field.

(Xinhua News Agency March 18, 2009)