U.S. allocates 5 million to the environment in the Arctic 11 June 2012The United States The U.S. Government has decided to allocate up to 5 million USD to the Arctic Council's environmental projects. The funds will be designated to the Arctic Council's Project Support Instrument (PSI), which is administered by the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO). The deposit of the contributions from the United States and Russia will make the fund operational. The Arctic Council Project Support Instrument, which was established by the Arctic Council in 2005, is a financial initiative that aims to focus on actions preventing pollution of the Arctic including abatement and elimination of release of hazardous substance such as persistent organic pollutants, mercury and mitigation of climate change. The PSI is open to contributions from the Arctic Council members, observers and other interested parties. "We are very pleased with the support from the United States since this will give a very strong political signal that the PSI-fund will be functional. The U.S. Contribution will enable us to finance a range of environmental projects in the Russian Arctic, including mitigation of short lived climate pollutants", said Special Adviser Husamuddin Ahmadzai at NEFCO.