U.N. climate treaty talks to go down to wire

LONDON (Reuters) - Talks on a United Nations climate treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol are likely to go down to the wire, as rich countries play poker over who will pay for measures to curb CO2 emissions, a key mediator in the talks said on Wednesday.

Connie Hedegaard, Danish Climate and Energy Minister, said agreement on a treaty hinged on rich countries paying for emission abatement measures in developing countries.

"If we do not provide financing then we will not have a deal in Copenhagen," she said.

However, talks on a funding plan were proceeding "very slowly."

"Many will wait until the very last moment to see what it takes and to see what others will do, and everybody is waiting for everybody else," she told Reuters in an interview.

Around 190 nations will gather in Copenhagen in December to try to agree a global pact to fight climate change. Hedegaard will be President of the conference.

It is envisaged that rich countries will agree to cut CO2 emissions below 1990 levels and that developing countries will make efforts to limit their emissions, with help from rich countries.

Hedegaard said suggestions that developed countries should pay a percentage of their gross domestic product to developing nations to fund environmental measures would not work because poor countries do not believe the rich would pay up.

"That will not have much legitimacy with the developing countries because much too often they have seen the developed countries pledge at international conferences but not very often have they delivered," she said.

"It's essential that we focus on innovative financial solutions."

Hedegaard said levies could be put on shipping and aviation fuel and the money raised used to fund climate measures.

Mexico has proposed the cash is raised by every country in the world contributing to a central pot, with the size of contributions based on a formula that takes account of each country's population, GDP and the level of current and historic greenhouse gas emissions.

Overall, talks on the treaty are advancing, the minister said, but she added: "They are not progressing fast enough."

Hedegaard said the new willingness of the administration in the United States, under President Barack Obama, to engage on climate issues, had enhanced the chances of a deal.

Developing countries such as China, the world's biggest CO2 emitter, want developed nations to cut emissions by up to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

The European Union has offered cuts of 20-30 percent, Australia has offered 25 percent if others follow suit, Canada plans for a 3 percent reduction while a bill passed by a key U.S. congressional panel last month would cut U.S. emissions by 4 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

(Editing by David Cowell)