New York ? Several leaders attending a U.N. summit joined international celebrities to support programs to preserve the environment as a means to help end poverty.

Camera flashes lit up the night Wednesday as the VIPs headed into a restaurant in Central Park for a program by the Poverty-Environment Partnership, a network of organizations promoting U.N. goals to promote development and save the world’s natural habitat.

“Undermining and not understanding the environment is the problem,” said Angelique Kidjo, who was born in the African country of Benin.

The singer explained that destruction of the environment creates natural disasters, leaving the poor stranded.

As guests dined, Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds announced that her country will invest $150 million in environmental protection for the poor.

Media mogul Ted Turner, whose visit with leaders in North Korea last month included discussions over environmental issues, attended as a guest. “I’m only here to support the cause,” Turner said.

Former Vice President Al Gore sat at a table near Turner. The president of Gambia, officials from Finland and Norway, and actresses Rosario Dawson, Sophia Bush and Kerry Washington were also in the audience.

Wyclef Jean, a former member of the Fugees, was at the event endorsing a campaign to plant trees in areas of Haiti destroyed by Hurricane Jeanne.