Dame Vivienne Westwood is donating £1 million to battle climate change. The fashion designer is a renowned environmentalist and has often spoken out about issues involving the planet.
She decided to hand over the money after becoming concerned that cash set aside for the issue is yet to be relinquished by governments. Vivienne claims much of the £4.2 billion promised to the World Bank’s Climate Investments Funds hasn’t been used yet.
“Governments … are so slow that we can’t wait for them anymore,” she told British newspaper The Times. “We have to get this thing moving and hope that they’ll join in.” The designer was talking shortly before The United Nations Climate Change Conference which will be staged in Durban, South Africa.
She has handed her donation to an organisation called Cool Earth, which she’s working with closely. The charity aims to protect areas of the rainforest from logging, and is collaborating with Vivienne to show the issues such organisations face financially.
The World Bank has two special funds for climate change but is apparently slow to give out cash from both of them. This is coupled with the fact that many governments are yet to put in the amount of money they previously promised.
“I’m just a very practical person,” the designer explained. “So I took as much as I could afford from my company. I’d never done it before because we’ve always been putting money back into it. © COVERMEDIA
