EU makes progress on climate funding deal

By Pete Harrison and David Brunnstrom

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders made progress on Friday toward an agreement on funding that could boost efforts to reach a global deal to fight climate change in Copenhagen in December.

Britain said agreement had already been reached on financing to help developing countries combat the effects of global warming. But diplomats said EU leaders were still trying to bridge a rift between countries in east and west Europe.

Agreement on the last day of an EU summit in Brussels would boost efforts to reach a deal at the international talks in Copenhagen on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations' anti-climate change scheme, which expires in 2012.

"Europe is making three conditional offers, money on the table, saying we will do everything we can to make a climate change deal happen," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.

"I think this is a breakthrough that takes us forward to Copenhagen and makes a Copenhagen agreement possible."

An EU diplomat later confirmed progress had been made but said: "I think they've come a long way, but not yet reached full agreement."

The EU's Swedish presidency drew up revised proposals after talks broke down on Thursday, largely because of a rift between nine countries from eastern Europe and the richer member states over how the burden should be shared. [nLT246249]

Funding is central to the chances of success in Copenhagen because developing countries say they will not sign up to tackling climate change without enough funds from rich nations.