The 10 billion-dollar-a-year "Copenhagen Launch Fund" would help secure an agreement in Copenhagen and boost developing countries' efforts to fight climate change, UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said Friday.

Britain and France have proposed the creation of an environmental fund totalling 30 billion dollars that will be evenly spent during the years 2010, 2011 and 2012, in efforts to help developing countries fight the effects of global warming.

"The 10 billion-dollar fund is part of the efforts to bridge the gap" between the developed and developing countries in global efforts to fight climate change, Ban told a joint press conference with Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

"What we need to achieve in Copenhagen is an agreement on financing," Rasmussen said. "The new fund will need a pledging procedure and the most developed nations have to participate."

Rasmussen added the world's most industrialized nations should make greater efforts than developing nations, because they had polluted more on the way to their current status.

Both Ban and Rasmussen said they were convinced there would be concrete achievements from the Copenhagen summit on climate change slated for Dec. 7-18.

Two weeks ago the Danish government issued invitations for Dec. 18, the most important day of the summit, he said. "A total of 85 leaders have told us they will come and many others have told us they are considering it."

Ban and Rasmussen earlier addressed a special executive session of CHOGM. CHOGM is a biennial summit meeting of the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations.

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