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US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses a press conference at the Bella Centre in Copenhagen on December 17, 2009 on the 11th day of the COP15 UN Climate Change Conference.AXEL SCHMIDT

The United States has breathed some life into the barely alive Copenhagen climate change summit with its pledge to support a $100-billion U.S. fund to fight climate change in the developing world.

The announcement, made this morning in Copenhagen by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in no way guarantees that a deal can be reached on Friday, when 119 heads of state and government are due to endorse a near climate change deal. But some delegates, environmental groups and former climate change negotiators said the American move shifts the odds somewhat in favour of a deal.

"My view now is that nobody can afford defeat," said John Prescott, Britain's former deputy prime minister and negotiator for the European Union's Kyoto Protocol talks. "No leader wants to come here tomorrow and take the blame for failed talks."

Ms. Clinton said the United States would back the $100-billion U.S. fund on the condition that world leaders reach a climate change agreement tomorrow to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The other condition is transparency. In a warning to China and other countries, Ms. Clinton said the United States would back down on its financing pledge unless the other countries committed to transparency in reporting their greenhouse gas emissions and allowing them to be independently verified.

"It would be hard to imagine, speaking for the United States, that there could be the level of financial commitment that I have just announced in the absence of transparency from the second biggest emitter," she said, referring to China.

"If there is not even a commitment to pursue transparency, that's kind of a deal-breaker for us."

When asked if President Barack Obama is definitely arriving Friday at the summit, Ms. Clinton said "The president is planning to come tomorrow. Obviously we hope that there will be something to come for."

Delegates and observers said the rift between China and the United States could easily wreck the summit. China's concern is that MRV - monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions by outside agencies - are an intolerable intrusion on its sovereignty. A few other big developing countries, India and Brazil among them, have similar concerns about transparency. But China's fears are the greatest.

"They are worried about the carbon police descending on their country," said Kevin Fay, executive director of the International Climate Change Partnership of Arlington, Virginia. "To them, it's a question of whether China maintains control of their economy."

Shortly after Ms. Clinton's speech, China said it is willing to provide details about its emissions but suggested it would go only so far. The Associated Press reported that vice foreign minister He Yafei said China is ready for "dialogue and co-operation that is not intrusive, that would not infringe on China's sovereignty."

Mr. Fay and other climate change experts, including Dirk Forrister, the former chairman of the White House climate change task force under president Bill Clinton, see Ms. Clinton's funding announcement as a divide-and-conquer strategy. The developing world, such as the poor African states, desperately want long-term funding pay for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

But they may not get it unless China meets at least some of the U.S. demands on transparency. "She was very clearing forcing a divide in the developing world to put pressure on China," he said.

Until today, the United States had never mentioned any commitment to a long-term financing fund or how it may work. Ms. Clinton said it would be a mix of public and private money. She did not say how much the United States is willing to contribute to the fund.

Environmental groups were quick to praise Ms. Clinton's announcement, which, they believe, has the potential to break the China-United States deadlock. WWF president Carter Roberts said "Secretary Clinton's $100-billion surprise breathes new life into the sputtering negotiations. It bridges the needs of the developed and developing worlds and changes the game in these global talks."

JoDee Winterhof, vice-president of policy for CARE, a humanitarian organization, said Ms. Clinton's announcement "brings new hope - and new momentum - to negotiations that have life-and-death implications for the world's poorest people."



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