EU to offer poor countries billions for climate change

BERLIN (AFP) - The EU is to offer one to three billion euros in aid to developing countries over the next three years so they can fight the effects of climate change, the Financial Times Deutschland reported Sunday.
The funding is to be agreed at a European Union summit in Brussels set for Thursday and Friday, which will also coincide with the world climate conference in Copenhagen that opens on Monday.
The draft text obtained by AFP says that the Copenhagen agreement should include provisions on immediate action after Copenhagen starting in 2010 and acknowledges that this requires scaled up financial support.
The EU calls on developed countries to announce their contributions to such support. The EU is ready to contribute with fast start funding of at least X billion euros for the years 2010 to 2012, the text said.
The German daily quoted a diplomatic source as saying that the EU would in fact propose one to three billion euros. Money to help developing countries develop in a less polluting way and to help them adapt to the potentially disastrous effects of climate change is a key issue at the Copenhagen summit.
The summits goal is to deliver an accord that will ratchet up efforts against climate change, driven by uncontrolled emissions of heat-trapping carbon gases from fossil fuels.
An outline accord in Copenhagen would be fleshed out in negotiations next year and take effect from 2013, when current pledges under the Kyoto Protocol expire.
The draft agreement said that a legally binding agreement should be finalised within six months after the Copenhagen conference.
Meanwhile, more than 2,000 police, including snipers and sniffer dog handlers, will be mobilised for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo on Thursday honouring US President Barack Obama, police said.
Its without doubt the biggest police mobilisation ever in Norway to ensure the safety of a single person, an Oslo police official, Johan Fredriksen, told AFP.
Part of the Norwegian capitals normally-peaceful centre will be completely blocked off during the US leaders visit. Snipers will be placed on roofs and manhole covers have already been sealed.
Between 2,000 and 2,500 police officers will be mobilised, most of whom will for the rare occasion carry weapons, Fredriksen said.
The Norwegian government has earmarked 16 million dollars to cover security needs during Obamas visit-more than 10 times the prize money awarded to the Peace Prize laureate.
A number of organisations have said they plan to hold demonstrations on Thursday evening near the hotel where Obama will be staying, notably to protest against his decision to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan and against nuclear weapons.
The Peace Prize creates obligations. The decision to send additional troops to Afghanistan is sad and cynical and this shows that Obama has not understood his obligations, Benjamin Endre Larsen, the head of umbrella organisation Fredsinitiativet organising the demonstration, told AFP.
We think that Obama received the prize prematurely, but now that he has it he has to prove himself worthy, he added.
Oslo police said they would do their best to ensure that all opinions could be expressed openly in Obamas proximity.
We have absolutely no intention of censoring or impeding freedom of expression. An experienced politician must be able to tolerate all kinds of messages. Thats good and healthy for democracy, Fredriksen said.