European Union governments have so far pledged a total of about 3 billion euros (4.4 billion dollars) over three years to a global fund aimed at helping poor nations cope with climate change, according to dpa. The total is based on statements from eight of the EU"s 27 member states. Heavyweights Germany, France and Italy have yet to announce their voluntary contributions to the kitty. The biggest single contribution so far - 883 million euros - has come from Britain. The EU has quantified the amount of immediate funding that will be needed from rich countries at 5-7 billion euros (7.4-10.3 billion dollars) per year between 2010 and 2012. The United Nations" climate chief, Yvo de Boer, said at at current climate change conference in Copenhagen that about 10 billion dollars in "fast-start" funds are needed. Long-term aid aimed at helping developing nations mitigate and adapt to global warming are estimated at between 100 and 300 billion dollars a year by 2020. Officials in Brussels were expected to announce an updated EU total at the end of Thursday"s talks by the bloc"s heads of state and government. "I will definitely ask for contributions, which will be voluntary," Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the EU"s rotating presidency, said at the start of the Brussels summit. The EU says it is at the forefront of the fight against climate change, having vowed to unilaterally cut its own emissions by 20 per cent against 1990 levels by 2020. It is also offering to deepen the cuts to 30 per cent, but only if comparable pledges are made by other major emitters. Environmentalists want the EU to step up its ambition and go for the 30 per cent figure, but European businesses oppose this. The arrival of EU heads of state and government at the council building in Brussels was briefly disrupted by a group of Greenpeace activists, who eluded security and called on leaders to work towards "the strongest possible agreement in Copenhagen."
