POZNAN (Poland) - A TINY fund to help poor countries cope with global warming was launched at UN talks on Saturday but environmentalists said scant overall progress had been made towards a UN climate treaty in 2009.

Environment ministers at the 189-nation Dec 1-12 talks in Poland set rules for the Adaptation Fund that will help developing countries adapt to floods, mudslides, droughts and rising seas.

'It's a step. It's not enough,' said Mr John Ashe, representative of Antigua and Barbuda who chairs the Group of 77 developing nations and China.

The fund, among few points agreed at the Poznan meeting, will be able to draw on credits worth about $80 million and this could rise to $300 million a year by 2012.

UN projections are that poor nations will need tens of billions of dollars a year by 2030 to cope with climate change.

'It is obvious that the existing amount of money for the Adapation Fund ... is much too low,' said German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel. Discussion about wider sources of funding was put off until another meeting.

The fund will provide cash, for instance to develop storm-warning systems, sea defences or drought-resistant crops.

Developing nations won streamlined access to funds while rich nations secured controls to ensure cash was properly spent.

Overshadowed by worries about a global recession, the main task of the meeting was to review progress at the halfway mark of a two-year push meant to end with a sweeping climate treaty in Copenhagen in December 2009 to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

Environmentalists disappointed
'We are desperately disappointed with the progress here,' said Ms Stephanie Tunmore of the Greenpeace environmental group.

'The stocktaking bit wasn't difficult: 'What did we do in 2008? Not much'.'

Environmentalists accused Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand of blocking progress and failing to set ambitious new goals to cut emissions. By contrast, countries including Mexico, China and South Africa laid out ideas to curb rising emissions.

European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said the talks were on track towards Copenhagen.

'Here in Poznan everyone said the fight against climate change is consistent with tackling the economic crisis,' he said. Many delegates said stimulus packages to end the global economic crisis could help create millions of green jobs.

The talks were also distracted by uncertainty about how quickly President-elect Barack Obama will be able to work out new US climate policies.

European Union ministers in Poznan expressed relief after EU leaders in Brussels agreed a pact on Friday to cut greenhouse gases by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 - after making costly concessions to east European countries.

The UN Climate Change Secretariat said the talks achieved the main goals of agreeing a plan of work towards Copenhagen.

Under the Adaptation Fund, cash will be raised by a 2 per cent levy on a UN system of projects to cut greenhouse gas emissions in poor nations that has raised 60 million euros (S$119 million) so far.

Negotiators also agreed measures to speed up approval of projects such as cutting greenhouse gases from factories in China or building windmills in Morocco.

Former US Vice-President Al Gore won the biggest applause of the conference with a speech predicting a far more active US climate policy under Mr Obama.

Mr Gore said a new UN climate deal could be agreed as planned in 2009.

'It can be done, it must be done,' he said. -- REUTERS