BRUSSELS — EU leaders agreed Friday to commit euro2.4 billion, or $3.6 billion, a year until 2012 to help poorer countries combat global warming, as they sought to rescue their image as climate-change innovators and bolster the talks in Copenhagen.
All 27 members of the European Union agreed to commit money to a short- term fund for poorer countries, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said after two days of difficult talks at a summit in Brussels.
Britain, France and Germany will each contribute about 20 percent of the money. But with many cash-strapped eastern EU states balking, donations by some were thought to be only a token to reach a unanimous agreement.
The money goes toward a global $10 billion annual fund to help poor countries, particularly in Africa, adapt to the effects of global warming before a new climate treaty being negotiated in Copenhagen comes into force in 2012. The Associated Press
