MANILA, Philippines - The environmental group World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has welcomed announcement of five Nordic countries that they will stand with the US in ending public finance for new coal-fired power plants overseas. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have joined the US in adopting this public position, further strengthening a growing trend among major financiers and donors to switching investments from fossil fuels via a transition to clean, renewable energy. The WWF said this development is significant and builds on the growing movement away from coal, which it regarded as the most polluting energy source. Samantha Smith, WWF’s Global Climate and Energy Initiative leader, said that with the leadership seen from these countries, the World Bank and more recently the European Investment Bank, it is time for other major institutions to follow their lead.