LE BOURGET, France

France pledged on Tuesday to give African countries more than €2 billion ($2.1 billion) over the next four years to develop renewable energy and to increase the African continent's access to electricity, French President Francois Hollande said Tuesday.

 "The world, and in particular the developed world, owes the African continent an environmental debt," Hollande told 12 African leaders at a summit on "Climate Challenge, African solutions" at the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) that kicked off on Monday in the presence of 150 world leaders.

" Africa, which was not responsible for climate change, has suffered the most serious consequences," he said, adding that France will seek to begin funding without delay, in 2016 for the period through 2020.

According to the French presdent's office, those funds will represent an increase of 50 percent in French energy commitments in Africa from the past five years.

The projects funded by France would be implemented by African governments and NGOs as part of the framework of the African Initiative on Renewable Energy, led by the African Union. 

"These projects will encourage the use of solar, wind, hydroelectric and geothermal energy according to the potential of each country," explained Hollande.

As part of the fight against desertification and adaptation to climate change, Hollande said that France would triple its bilateral commitments gradually in Africa, to achieve 1 billion euros annually by 2020.