Climate conference

BRUSSELS, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- EU leaders Friday promised $10.6 billion in the next three years to fight global climate change.

All 27 EU members are expected to chip in, with Britain's $2.4 billion through 2012 the highest single pledge. The agreement announced Friday at the end of an EU summit before the U.N. Climate Change Conference seeks to "fast start" an agreement to take over from the Kyoto Protocol.

Britain and France earlier Friday made substantial pledges to the fund despite concern some of the smaller EU members, battling local economy issues, wouldn't be able to contribute. However, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said each would add its "fair share."

The money is earmarked to help relatively poor, undeveloped countries battle deforestation and water issues while industrialized countries cut greenhouse gas emissions. The EU plans to reduce emissions by 30 percent by 2020. A measure in the U.S. Senate this week would call for a 17 percent reduction from 2005 levels in similar emissions in the United States.

U.K. meteorologists at the climate change conference predicted that 2010 will be the warmest year on record -- an average 58.2 degrees Fahrenheit -- breaking the mark of 58.1 degrees in 1998. Such a figure would be about 1.1 degrees F higher than the average from 1961 to 1990.