"Not enough progress" on climate funding, EU's Barroso warns

Rich countries have not offered developing states enough help to clinch a deal on fighting global warming, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned Tuesday as he prepared to travel to the UN climate talks in Copenhagen, DPA reported.

Barroso "feels that not enough progress has been made, and there I'm talking about the developed countries," on the crucial issue of funding the fight against global warming, his spokeswoman, Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, told journalists in Brussels.

Barroso is to travel to Copenhagen on Wednesday and is set to meet with a range of leaders from developed and developing countries.

In talks with the leaders of wealthy states, "he will be seeking to meet (them) to allow a good finance package for developing countries to be agreed in Copenhagen," Hansen said.

Analysts say that one of the key questions in the Copenhagen talks will be the amount of funding rich and historically highly-polluting countries offer to poorer and cleaner ones to help them deal with the effects of climate change.

Talks are currently deadlocked, with poor countries accusing rich ones of not offering enough money.

The commission estimates that rich nations will have to provide poor ones with support worth 5-7 billion euros (7.3-10.3 billion dollars) per year over the next three years.

By 2020, that sum will have to rise to around 100 billion euros per year, the commission estimates.

Last week, EU leaders pledged up-front support totalling 2.4 billion euros per year from 2010-2012.

World environment ministers are currently debating climate change in Copenhagen. World leaders are to take up the debate on Thursday.