The Commission has suggested the EU set aside a fund of between €2 and €15 billion a year to help poor countries adapt to climate change and reduce their carbon emissions. Christian Aid believes, however, that the real amount needed is closer to €35 billion a year.

Nelson Muffuh, advocacy coordinator at Christian Aid, said if the Commission's estimate was accepted, the goal of limiting global warming to two degrees celsius would become "ever more remote".

"Pollution from rich countries is already having devastating effects in developing countries, through droughts, floods and tropical storms. Rich countries have to face up to their historic responsibility for the emissions that have caused climate change," he said.

The aid agency believes that the Commission's plans are too dependent on the carbon market to raise the necessary funds. The carbon market, it says, does not guarantee reliable financial and is of little benefit to poor countries because of a lack of interest in investing in them.

The EC's added suggestion that some of the climate change funds come from official development assistance (ODA) was "alarming", said Mr Muffah.

"In the short term they seem to want to rely totally on ODA for adaptation support which threatens the poverty eradication objectives of developing countries by diverting already meagre resources."

Mr Muffah said the industrialised countries meeting for UN climate change talks in Copenhagen in December had to "strongly commit" to "substantial" funding to help poor countries meet the full costs of sustainable development and adaptation.

"Many poorer nations are disappointed at the lack of EU leadership," he said. "After decades of broken aid promises, the trust gap between rich and poor countries, which it is essential to bridge if we are to counter climate change, simply widens."

Mr Muffah welcomed, however, the EC's proposal for a climate fund to be set up under the UN Convention.

He said: "This is a good initiative that we would like to see elaborated further since it would not be a donor controlled fund."