Win Win Approaches to Development and the EnvironmentEnvironmental Trusts and Endowments Center for Development Information and Evaluation Financial resources to address environmental problems are hard to come by in developing countries already severely constrained in funding social and economic programs. Donors, developing country governments, and nongovernmental organizations are experimenting with trusts and endowments to meet a share of environ- mental program requirements.
Environmental trusts appear promising as a means for mobilizing additional capital resources.
They also show promise as a way to help extend the reach of government programs and expand participation of local groups in the stewardship of natural resources. Given other demands for limited public resources for education, health, infrastructure, and other programs, developing countries are finding it hard to sustain, let alone increase, funding for environmental programs. Recent evaluations indicate that environmental trusts and endowments have emerged in several developing countries as a means for addressing some of these financial obstacles. Often capitalized with initial contributions from external donors, environmental trusts generate a flow of annual interest earnings to fund their activities. In these cases, governments gain by lowering their external debt.