UNITED NATIONS -- Developing nations that tread on the wealthier side of world economies should not be required to contribute to the Green Climate Fund, according to U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres.

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Figueres yesterday addressed the status of the still-empty fund as diplomats prepare for climate talks this December in Doha, Qatar. When asked if Qatar, one of the world's wealthiest nations and a net oil exporter, should help bankroll the fund, Figueres said that decision should be left to its government.

"There is no conversation about who should contribute to the fund other than the very clear agreement that it is the clear responsibility of industrialized nations to capitalize that fund," Figueres said.

She then added, "That is absolutely going to be up to each of the individual countries. That is absolutely up to each country to decide."

The fund was created with much fanfare during 2010 U.N. climate change talks in Cancun, Mexico, and is expected to deliver some $100 billion of public and private dollars to protect vulnerable countries from the threat of climate change. But it has had difficulty getting out of the gate. Among the challenges has been securing money from developed countries like the United States, while fights over the ruling architecture of the fund continue (ClimateWire, Aug. 21).

Wealthy countries have contended that much of the funding should come from the private sector and also have pushed to allow contributions from all industrialized and developing countries alike. Diplomats from poorer nations, meanwhile, contend that industrialized-country governments are primarily responsible for paying the tab.

Yet some on the little-guy side of the classic "developing versus developed" standoff see room for contributions from smaller nations. Ronny Jumeau, the Seychelles' ambassador for climate change and small island developing state issues, said in an interview with ClimateWire last week that he would like to see all countries -- including his tiny Indian Ocean archipelago -- contribute to the Green Climate Fund.

Jumeau proposed a formula by which nations would put money into the fund based on historical emissions. He specifically called on major emerging economies to take a stronger role in the effort to protect vulnerable nations.

"The Chinas and Indias, all of us who are polluting, should put money into the pot relative to what we pollute," he said.

Leaders from countries like India and Qatar have publicly refused to contribute to the fund because the United Nations does not classify them as "Annex I" industrialized nations (ClimateWire, Dec. 19, 2011). So-called Annex I countries are the only nations legally bound to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol and provide certain protections to poorer or more vulnerable parts of the world.

But Jumeau insisted that the Green Climate Fund is and should be different. "It's not a Kyoto Protocol fund," he said. "If you bring the Kyoto Protocol into it, where are you going to take this next? Everybody is short of money."

Some countries like Korea and Mexico are starting to break that mold and have offered pledges to the fund. Both, though, are vying to host it. So far, no other wealthy developing country has stepped up to the plate.

State and Treasury department officials did not respond to ClimateWire by press time. But the U.S. climate envoy, Todd Stern, has in the past advocated allowing major economies and others to contribute (ClimateWire, Nov. 29, 2011).

Figueres on 'what's next' for climate talks

Figueres, a Costa Rican, also offered her assessment of international climate talks yesterday as diplomats start to eye travel preparations to Doha, the site of the 18th "conference of the parties," or COP, under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.

She insisted that parties to the Kyoto Protocol and those countries that never signed it -- including the United States -- are engaged in the lead-up to Doha and fully intend to negotiate a binding agreement there. The parties made "very concrete progress" recently during informal climate meetings in Bangkok, she said.

On extending the Kyoto Protocol, the first part of which expires at the end of this year, "Parties are clearly wanting to move forward," she said, arguing that the thinking has evolved from debate over whether a second commitment period will happen at all to "how that second commitment period is going to come into being."

Asked if there had been backsliding since the Durban Platform was signed, Figueres acknowledged some difficulty but repeated her optimism about future talks. That platform committed parties to signing a binding agreement this year in Doha.

In Thailand, "there was the usual difficulty with interpreting the text from the Durban Platform," she said. "The political decisions still need to be confronted and addressed. Governments have put themselves in a good position."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also addressed climate change during an address to the General Assembly yesterday, calling on nations to come to the table ready to negotiate the next phase of Kyoto. Among the programs Ban has emphasized so far this year at the General Assembly are moving beyond the 2015 Millennium Development Goals and building Sustainable Energy For All into a more robust effort (ClimateWire, Sept. 25).