At a conference in Berlin on November 20, $9.3 billion in pledges to the U.N. Green Climate Fund from donor nations were announced, bringing the fund closer to the U.N.'s informal target of $10 billion. The fund is intended to help developing nations invest in low emission development strategies and adapt to climate change. Pledges to the fund are seen as important to the achievement of a 2015 climate deal in Paris. Some of the funds included in the announcement were pledges that had been made previously, including $1.5 billion from Japan and $3 billion from the United States. New pledges included $1.1 billion from Britain and $310 million from Italy. Late on Thursday, after the pledges were announced, the government of Canada also pledged to contribute $265 million to the fund. While this pledge is much lower than other major developed economies, it is seen as significant because of the government's recent resistance to UN climate change talks. While praising the pledges as a positive step, numerous groups including the World Bank, Greenpeace, and the Alliance of Small Island States have emphasized that more progress is still needed. For the full story, see: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/11/20/us-climatechange-fund-idUKKCN0J41V020141120 and http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/21/canada-pledges-265m-to-green-climate-fund.