Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt (R), whose country holds the EU rotating presidency, welcomes French President Nicolas Sarkozy at a European Union summit at the European Council headquarters in Brussels. European leaders met Thursday seeking to show a united front in the battle against climate change, as UN talks continued in Copenhagen, by pledging aid for developing nations.(AFP/Georges Gobet)
BRUSSELS (AFP) - European Union leaders fell short Thursday of a target to pledge six billion euros to help the developing world combat global warming, but talks were set to continue through the night, the EU presidency said.
At a summit in Brussels, the 27 nations closed in on their goal, determined to underline the EU's leadership role in fighting climate change and set the tone for the on-going international climate conference in Copenhagen.
"We are still working on putting together what European countries on a voluntary basis are able to put on the table," Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt told reporters at a late-night press conference.
"We will work through the night," he added of attempts by national officials to reach the target of two billion euros (three billion dollars) per year in so-called fast-start monies between 2010 and 2012. Global warming threatens human race: Tuvalu PM
"The figures will be better tomorrow morning than they are tonight," assured Reinfeldt, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency until the end of the year.
Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer expressed confidence that the outstanding money would be found on Friday, when the leaders reconvene for the final session of their two-day meeting here.
"The search for the money continues, but some countries made it clear today that they are ready to declare the sum by tomorrow," he told Czech reporters on the sidelines of the meeting.
An official with the French presidency was also optimistic, saying: "There is pretty much unanimity on finding the funds for fast start."
"Seventeen countries, including France, have announced their figures, and it will be announced tomorrow. Of the 2.2 billion euros expected from Europe, we are virtually at 1.8 billion," he said.
The largest known contributions came from Britain (884 million euros) and Sweden itself (765 million euros) with smaller amounts promised by the likes of the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg and Finland.
France and Germany, however, were among those resisting calls to reveal the day's final tally.
Before the summit got underway Greenpeace activists managed a serious security breach when they jumped out of vehicles in front of a line of official limousines to protest against the lack of action to tackle climate change.
About a dozen protesters, apparently wearing fake access badges, unfurled banners reading "EU Save Copenhagen," and shouted slogans at the media-lined entrance to the EU council headquarters in Brussels.
In a statement sent to media, Greenpeace called on the EU to unilaterally boost its pledge to raise emission reductions from 20 percent to 30 percent. The activists remained in police custody late Thursday.
Britain is keen to encourage the other major polluters to do more and wants to move to 30 percent, along with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The French leader told non-government groups in Paris that France was pushing for "one of the biggest possible commitments" by European countries, cuts of "up to 30 percent as soon as possible." Sarkozy wants 30 percent Europe emissions cut: minister
However, heavily coal-reliant Poland and others oppose deeper cuts, arguing that they still need to develop their economies and need more help to make the necessary ecological changes.
An EU diplomat said there would be no decision at the summit to go beyond the already agreed 20 percent cuts by 2020 over 1990 levels, which Reinfeldt said remained a "conditional" offer.
"There will be no movement on that because the United States and China haven't moved enough... Not now, not tomorrow," the diplomat said.
EU figures published last week showed confirmed pledges from developed nations outside Europe would mean carbon dioxide cuts of just 13 percent.
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