Forty leaders plan to attend climate talks - U.N.

By Alister Doyle and Gerard Wynn

BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - About 40 world leaders plan to go to Copenhagen next month to improve the chances of clinching a U.N. climate deal, the United Nations said on Friday as preparatory talks ended with scant progress.

Developing nations in Barcelona accused rich countries of trying to lower ambitions for a 190-nation deal in Copenhagen with suggestions that up to an extra year may be needed to tie up details of a legally binding treaty.

Inviting world leaders to the end of the Copenhagen meeting on Dec. 7-18 could help overcome disputes, said Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, on the final day of the week-long Barcelona talks.

"My understanding is that 40 heads of state have indicated their intention to be present," he said. They include British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy as well as leaders of African and Caribbean nations.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is considering attending, a spokesman said in Berlin. U.S. President Barack Obama is among those undecided.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has not formally invited leaders to the talks, currently due to be limited to environment ministers. "There is no official figure" of how many leaders will come, a Danish spokesman said.

The 175-nation Barcelona meeting ended with little progress towards a deal but narrowed options on helping the poor to adapt to climate change, sharing technology and cutting emissions from deforestation, delegates said.