Clinton seeks to put new life to flagging talks

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sought to put new life into flagging UN climate talks Thursday by announcing the US would join others in raising $100 billion (Dh367 billion) a year by 2020 to help poorer nations cope with global warming.

The $100 billion figure, the first offered by Washington in discussions here over long-term climate aid financing, falls short of what some experts suggest will be needed.

Yvo de Boer, UN climate chief, said talks would focus on the "adequacy" of that target.

Clinton made the offer contingent on the 193-nation conference reaching a broader agreement, including on the issue of "transparency" — demanding a Chinese commitment to allow some kind of oversight to verify its actions to control emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

The Chinese thus far have resisted what they see as a potential intrusion on their sovereignty.

But without that, Clinton told reporters, "there will not be the kind of concerted global action that we so desperately need."

Clinton's arrival and announcement in snowy Copenhagen ratcheted up the US-Chinese diplomatic duelling that has marked the two weeks of talks.

The negotiations end Friday with a summit gathering of President Barack Obama, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and more than 110 other national leaders.

For China's part, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in Beijing told reporters that developed countries should show "more sincerity" in the talks in Copenhagen.

Environment ministers, having taken over from lower-level negotiators, were getting down to final hours of talks in hopes of producing partial agreements to put before the world leaders.

Such accords might include long-term goals for financing climate aid, raised by Clinton, and monitoring of emissions controls.

Not as requested

But organisers of the UN conference probably will not get the climate deal they had hoped for, one Danish official said yesterday. The official was not authorised to talk publicly about the talks and spoke on condition of anonymity.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was among those stressing the time left, not the time lost.

"We can, by working together over the next 48 hours, reach an agreement that will help the planet move forward for generations to come," he told reporters.

The European Union issued a statement expressing concern over "the lack of progress in the negotiations."

The detailed talks on a range of issues — from emissions commitments, to preventing deforestation, to transferring clean-energy technology — reached an impasse on Wednesday when developing nations objected to the process that produced a core draft document.

In a reprise of a perennial issue at the annual conferences, the poorer nations complained they were being excluded from the drafting of the text, that the views of wealthy countries were being imposed on the developing ones.

The Clinton offer on long-term climate financing for developing countries reflected an amount — $100 billion — that Britain's Brown has previously suggested, to help poorer countries build sea walls against rising oceans, cope with unusual drought and deal with other impacts of climate change, while also financing renewable-energy and similar projects.

"It's good there's now been a statement of support for a clear number on long-term finance," de Boer said of the US offer. "This discussion will have to take place with other parties, whether they feel that sum is adequate."

Long term costs

Expert studies, by the World Bank and others, have estimated the long-term climate costs for poorer nations, from 2020 or so, would likely total hundreds of billions of dollars a year. China and other developing countries say the target should be in the range of $350 billion.

In addition, the developing nations want long-term financial support based on stable revenue sources, such as a global aviation tax that might be the goal of future international climate talks.