EARTH SUMMIT : Kohl Asks Richer Nations to Boost Environmental Aid : Conservation: German leader calls for tripling special World Bank fund to $4 billion. Several countries offer financial pledges.

RIO DE JANEIRO — German Chancellor Helmut Kohl called on industrialized nations Friday to triple a World Bank fund for environmental aid to nearly $4 billion as leaders from around the globe stepped forward to announce their individual pledges.

In a United Nations version of a Jerry Lewis telethon, the leaders were earmarking the money for an effort to help developing countries industrialize with minimal environmental harm.

Speaking to a historic gathering of more than 110 heads of state, Kohl said Germany would like to see the world’s richer nations contribute the additional money to the fund known as the World Bank’s Global Environment Facility.

“We are ready to assume our share, and we ask other industrial countries to do the same,” Kohl said.

British Prime Minister John Major said he also supported a larger fund, but in the range of $2 billion to $3 billion.

The Global Environment Facility, a pilot fund that now contains about $1.3 billion, is supposed to help finance development projects that contribute to a healthy global environment.

Developing nations, however, have complained that contributors to the fund have too much say over the projects that are financed. They successfully argued at the summit that the fund should be restructured to allow them greater participation.

Some nations also fear that the environmental aid will benefit the more prosperous developing countries, which can more easily propose environmental projects, and may come at the expense of other aid programs designed to help the world’s poorest nations.

Aid and new technology are considered crucial if the world’s poor countries are to grow economically without having to cut down their forests for fuel and farming or use inexpensive but highly polluting sources of energy.

But financing for the various environmental initiatives proposed at the summit have been a sticking point for negotiators here. Even with the announcements made here Friday, final financial arrangements and contributions are not expected to be worked out until later this year.

Also, once the World Bank environmental fund is depleted, industrialized countries would be expected to replenish it.

Leading the parade of nations in committing funds, Germany announced it will triple its individual contribution to the facility to a total of $487 million. The United States has committed $50 million to the fund and $25 million more to help developing countries inventory their emissions of gases that contribute to global warming.

On Friday, Kohl also announced that his nation would increase its overall aid to developing countries “as soon as possible” to 0.7% of its gross national product, which would amount to about $6.3 billion in environmental aid. But a German government official later acknowledged that the goal might not be reached for 20 years.

In a separate initiative, the 12-nation European Community announced it would provide about $4 billion in assistance, some of it previously planned, to pay for environmental initiatives launched at the conference.

Such programs include everything from ocean protection to forest conservation. Some $125 billion in aid from industrialized nations and several times that from developing countries would be required to pay for them.

Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney also offered his nation’s resources, promising to forgive about $116 million in debts owed by several Latin America nations in return for environmentally sensitive development projects.

Mulroney said Canada will contribute $25 million to the Global Environment Facility and provide “our fair share” again in the future.

Not to be outdone, the Japanese are expected to announce a five-year aid package, estimated to total between $6 billion and $8 billion, before the summit ends on Sunday. It is unclear, however, how much of the money would be funneled through the World Bank’s environmental fund.

Singapore’s Tommy Koh, the summit’s key negotiator, said in an interview that the details of the various financial pledges are likely to be finalized at the United Nations General Assembly in the fall, a timetable he said developing nations are supporting.

Marcos Antonia Gonzalez, a delegate from Nicaragua, said developing countries want to ensure that aid to the World Bank fund announced here is new money and that developing countries help decide how it is spent.

“Any aid given to finance this conference has to be additional,” Gonzalez said in an interview. “Otherwise, we will be taking from one pocket and putting it in another.”

A Malaysian delegate who asked not to be identified complained that a fund of $3 billion to $4 billion looks “rather dismal” compared to what industrialized nations will give to Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

Environmental activists were critical for another reason, saying they questioned whether the World Bank could administer the aid effectively. They pointed to a string of previous projects they say have degraded the environment. The bank, which provides development assistance, operates under the U.N. umbrella.

Meanwhile, William K. Reilly, chief of the American delegation, told reporters that some of the criticism directed against the United States at the summit was prompted by dissatisfaction with its funding commitment. Reilly, however, called the U.S. pledges “adequate.”