France on Tuesday pledged that it will be giving African countries more than €2 billion ($2.1 billion) for the development of renewable energy. The funds will be given over the period of next four years, said French President Francois Hollande.

It has been known that Africa produces very less greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, that are produced from burning of fossil fuels. Scientists have linked the emission of greenhouse gases to rapid climate change.

According to scientists, Africa is vulnerable to a changing climate as most of its population is poor, rural and dependent on rain-fed agriculture.

A conference on Africa which was held as part of climate change talks in Paris, Hollande told that his government would increase its investment in renewable energy generation by double.

The renewable energy generation projects will include wind farms to solar power and hydroelectric projects, across the continent and the France government will give around 2 billion euros ($2 billion) between 2016 and 2020.

Furthermore, he said that he would increase his funds for Africa’s battle with desertification and other climate change challenges by three times to 1 billion euros a year by 2020.

A major part of the investment made by France will be utilized at some former West African colonies, where Paris has significant security interests and has deployed thousands of troops to fight Islamist militants.

A project titled, the ‘Great Green Wall’, which aimed to create a barrier of trees from the Sahel in west Africa to the Sahara in the east will now focus on creating pockets of trees to revive the soil.