Draft deal gives lift to flagging climate talks

By David Fogarty and Sunanda Creagh

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A draft climate pact unveiled on Friday revived hopes that U.N. talks might be able to pin down an international deal to fight global warming, but developing nations said they needed more cash from the rich.

With less than a week until more than 110 world leaders descend on the talks, the proposal that would at least halve global emissions by 2050 sought to bridge some of the long-standing rifts between rich and poor nations.

A European Union offer of 7.3 billion euros ($10.8 billion) of climate aid over the next three years was welcomed by the United Nations and the Danish hosts of the December 7-18 talks in Copenhagen.

"Things are progressing," said Connie Hedegaard, the Danish minister who presides at the negotiations.

The first four days of talks moved so slowly that European Commission delegate Karl Falkenberg joked on Friday that progress was only visible under a magnifying glass.

Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, said the draft text marked a "step change" in the negotiations. "It's time to focus on the bigger picture," he told reporters.

The documents propose a global emissions goal for 2050, a target developing countries have opposed in the past, and omits figures for how many billions of dollars rich nations should give poorer ones to help them tackle climate change.

The text is also vague on when greenhouse gas emissions should peak.