UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says a 'Green New Deal' is needed to avoid backsliding in the fight against global warming.
Speaking at the UN climate change talks in Poznan, Poland, Mr Ban told about 100 environment ministers: 'We must re-commit ourselves to the urgency of our cause' after the talks have become overshadowed by worries about recession.
Click here to watch Ban Ki-moon's news conference from Poznan
Mr Ban has urged leadership in fighting climate change from President-elect Barack Obama and from the EU. which will try to break deadlock on a plan to axe greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 during its summit in Brussels.
The so-called '20-20-20' deal seeks to decrease greenhouse gas emission by 20% by 2020, make 20% energy savings and bring renewable energy sources up to 20% of total energy use.
A top UN official said the EU must meet its goals on cutting carbon emissions if it is to convince developing nations to follow suit.
'Europe must reach its own climate objectives to be credible' in discussions with developing nations, Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, told Germany's RBB radio.
Mr de Boer said that industrial countries responsible for the climate problem must also help developing nations fight climate change.
The international community must determine how much money it is willing to give developing nations to join the fight and how the funds can be used, he added.
Mr De Boer is currently heading UN climate talks in Poznan.
Economic worries
Germany's finance minister has accused other EU states of 'tossing around billions', deepening a rift over Berlin's resistance to demands to spend more to revive the EU's economy.
Leaders of the 27-nation bloc want to agree at the two-day Brussels summit on a €200bn stimulus package to wrench the bloc out of recession, but Germany, Europe's largest economy, says it will not contribute more.
In an interview with Newsweek magazine, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck singled out British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for abandoning fiscal prudence and switching to policies that would saddle a generation with debt.
'The speed at which proposals are put together under pressure that don't even pass an economic test is breathtaking and depressing,' Mr Steinbrueck said.
'The same people who would never touch deficit spending are now tossing around billions.'
Although EU nations have backed most of the stimulus package proposed by the European Commission last month, Berlin has come under pressure to increase its national contribution and does not want to copy Britain in cutting VAT.
Britain is to pump £20bn (€23bn) into the economy to 2010 which includes tax cuts and £3n of capital spending.
Germany has cited plans worth €31bn over two years but with a budget hit of just €10.9bn to 2012.
