The US State Department on Friday (Mar 3) gave details on US$6 billion in funding commitments around the world to protect oceans and fight climate change.

The amount was first announced Thursday by Washington’s climate envoy John Kerry at an oceans conference in Panama and encompasses 77 different commitments, the US State Department said on Friday.

The total includes some US$3 billion in climate resilience and climate research commitments that were part of the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress last year, according to the State Department.

The commitments also include more than US$665 million for sustainable fisheries and more than US$200 million tackling marine pollution.

“The climate crisis and the ocean crisis are one and the same. We cannot fully address one without the other,” Kerry said Thursday at the Our Ocean 2023 conference, which brought together private and public-sector representatives from over 190 countries.

Of the 77 commitments, 30 are directed at climate change, amounting to about US$5 billion of the total.

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Some of the pledges still require authorisation by the US Congress.

Washington’s announcement comes alongside the European Union’s announcement Thursday of commitments worth 816.5 million euros (S$1.2 trillion). REUTERS