US backs $100 billion climate fund for poor nations

United States today backed the setting up of a $100-billion global fund to support poor countries, helping Danish hosts re-launch the UN climate talks after protestors gathered at the summit declared the talks dead on Wednesday.

The move comes after a change of guard at the summit where Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen replaced the Danish president of the UN climate conference, Connie Hedegaard, who resigned acknowledging failure of the talks. 

"The United States is prepared to work with other countries toward a goal of jointly mobilising $100 billion a year by 2020 to address the climate change needs of developing countries," Secretary of state Hillary Clinton told a news conference.

Clinton, however, said any US contribution to a global $100 billion fund for the world's poor depended on developing nations supporting a new pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol after 2012.

Clinton said unless developing nations, specifically China, committed to transparency on their emissions curbs, a deal would fail.

The Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, being attended by 115 heads of states and 193 nations, is in a limbo after the Group of 77 developing nations, which include the emerging major economies such as China, Brazil, India and South Africa, insisted that everyone should be involved.