G20 wants 'ambitious' Copenhagen talks

8 Nov 2009, 5:45 am   -   Source: AAP
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G20 countries committed to work towards an "ambitious outcome" at next month's vital UN climate change conference after meeting on Saturday.

G20 countries committed to work towards an "ambitious outcome" at next month's vital UN climate change conference after meeting on Saturday, but fell short of agreeing a figure on climate funding.

Finance ministers from leading developed and emerging economies also said they would keep economic policy support in place in the face of "uneven" recovery, in a communique released after they met in St Andrews.

"We are not out of the woods yet and we need to maintain the measures we have taken," said Alistair Darling, finance minister of host country Britain after the meeting.

Ahead of December's UN talks in Copenhagen which aims to craft a replacement to the Kyoto Protocol, Saturday's meeting also discussed how to deliver funding to developing countries to help them tackle climate change.

"We committed to take action to tackle the threat of climate change and work towards an ambitious outcome in Copenhagen," the communique said, while promising to "take forward" work on climate funding.

"We discussed climate change financing options and recognised the need to increase significantly and urgently the scale and predictability of finance to implement an ambitious international agreement."

But there were signs of discord on the issue.

A French source told AFP late Friday that some emerging countries say the G20 is not the "appropriate forum" to discuss the issue.

Darling earlier acknowledged there were "different views" around the table which would lead to "arguments".

"But I think it really is imperative that when we reach the end of the day, we have shown we've made some real progress," he added.

"If there isn't an agreement on finance, if there isn't an agreement about contributions to make sure we can deal with this problem, then the Copenhagen agreement is going to be much, much more difficult."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown had earlier urged the G20 to consider a tax on global financial transactions, known as a Tobin Tax.

The move would be one way of reflecting the "global responsibilities" which financial institutions have to society, said Brown.

But Jean-Claude Trichet, head of the European Central Bank, said earlier it was "not discussed at all" by the meeting and the issue did not figure in the communique. It is thought the US is strongly opposed to the proposal.

Earlier, around 200 people gathered on a beach in St Andrews to protest against the meeting.

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