Bolivia, a country whose leaders have criticized the World Bank's involvement in climate change, will accept $86 million for water projects from the institution's Climate Investment Funds.

The funding is part of a $1.08 billion investment that the World Bank announced on Friday in "near-zero-interest loans" and grants to eight countries. In addition to Bolivia, the recipients include Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mali, Mexico and Nepal.

Announcing the new projects could give the World Bank a much-needed boost in popularity as officials prepare for a U.N. climate conference in Durban, South Africa, later this month. There, countries will work to set up the Green Climate Fund -- an entity aimed at delivering billions of dollars in adaptation and mitigation assistance. A key question will be the future role of the World Bank, which currently serves as the fund's interim trustee.

Of the $1.08 billion, the majority will go to India to launch the country's "Super-Efficient Equipment Program Initiative." The World Bank authorized $775 million to help consumers in India to buy high-efficiency appliances, enhance energy-saving measures in large industries, and lower the costs of technology transfer to help India develop solar parks.

The remaining $311 million is split among the other countries. Bolivia will use its dollars for water resources projects in El Alto and La Paz to strengthen the resilience of the Rio Grande Basin to climate change. Twenty-five million will go to Jamaica to collect and manage weather data and raise awareness about climate risks; $30 million to Honduras to help scale up off-grid renewable energy services in rural areas; $40 million to Mali to develop solar photovoltaic, mini-hydro and biofuel technologies; and $40 million to Nepal to develop small hydropower plants in rural areas. For efforts to stop deforestation and develop sustainable land-management plans, Laos will receive $30 million and Mexico $60 million.

"Every time the CIF committees meet I'm amazed at the commitment and energy level of our partner countries. There is a can-do spirit to these discussions that makes me feel optimistic about our chances to solve the problem," Andrew Steer, the World Bank's special envoy for climate change said in a statement.

The money was pledged and delivered more than a year ago by the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and several other industrialized countries. With international aid, and particularly climate change assistance, under fire in Washington, it remains unclear how much -- if anything -- Congress will appropriate in the coming year.

Bolivia was the only country to vote against the Cancun Agreements at last year's U.N. climate conference. The agreements called for the creation of the Green Climate Fund and named the World Bank as interim trustee -- one of the many issues that drew the objection of Bolivia.