UN climate talks in Qatar deadlocked

UN climate talks in Doha have been extended as delegates from rich and poor nations disagree on funding.

Talks scheduled to end on Friday spilled into the early hours of Saturday, as negotiators scrambled to find consensus on an interim plan to rein in climate change and smooth the way to a new deal that must enter into force in 2020.

With no signs of progress, a sign went up in the conference media centre around 4am (01:00 GMT) to announce that a "presentation of outcomes and next steps towards closure" would be made at 7.30am.

The main goal of the Doha meeting is to extend the greenhouse gas-curbing Kyoto Protocol. But the issue of funding to help poor countries deal with the fallout from global warming and convert to clean energy sources complicated the haggling by envoys from nearly 200 countries.

Developed countries are being pressed to show how they intend to keep a promise to raise climate funding for poorer nations to $100bn per year by 2020 -- up from a total of $30 billion in 2010-2012.

Developing countries say they need at least another $60 billion between now and 2015 - starting with $20bn from next year - to deal with a climate change-induced rise in droughts, floods, rising sea levels and storms.

But the US and European Union have refused to put concrete figures on the table for 2013-2020 funding, citing tough financial times.

"The EU cannot accept a text that includes a commitment to $60bn in public money in 2015 considering the budget constraints that we face," French Development Minister Pascal Canfin told journalists late on Friday.

There was also deadlock on a demand by least developed countries and those most at risk of sea level rise that provision be made for losses they suffer because of climate change - which they blame on the West's polluting ways ever since the industrial era.