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The leaders of the European Union have finalized a deal for helping the developing nations to tackle climate change, but the amount has not been disclosed.
"We have an agreement," said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, after the two-day European summit in Brussels came to a conclusion.
"The EU now has a strong negotiating position and the countdown to Copenhagen now has started," he added.
According to the EU leaders, about 100 billion euros will be required every year by 2020 for the poor nations to fight climate change. But they have not mentioned about the amount of contributions.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite has mentioned that the way of dividing up the bill will be decided by a working committee.
Lithuania, Poland and seven other eastern EU nations have been firmly against the idea of linking contributions to polluting levels, which would leave them with a heavy bill.
They instead suggested that “the burden sharing be divided according to national income, which would put the onus very much on the richer western European nations”.
The European Union has already agreed to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020. It has also ensured that it will rise its emission cut rates to 30% if a similar strategy is adopted by other nations at the Copenhagen Climate Summit.
"We can now look the rest of the world in the eyes and say we Europeans have done our job," said EU Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso.
"It was essential that the European Union kept its leadership role and we have done that," he added.
However he cautioned that the EU "offers are not a blank cheque... we are ready to act if our partners are ready to deliver."
