U.N. says climate fight must be won in developing nations

By Gerard Wynn

LONDON (Reuters) - More than two thirds of cuts in greenhouse gas emissions needed by 2030 to fight climate change will have to come from developing countries, the United Nation's climate change secretariat said on Thursday.

By 2030 the world will need to spend hundreds of billions of dollars annually to fight climate change, said the report on an "appropriate international response to climate change".

"It's not just a question of throwing more money at the problem," the U.N.'s climate change chief, Yvo de Boer, told Reuters.

"(It's) incredibly important to put in place policies and measures that guide those investments in the right direction."

The report said emissions have to drop in the next 25 years to 2004 levels. Some 68 percent of emissions cuts must take place in developing countries, it added.

The fight against global warming has two parts, curbing the greenhouse gas emissions which are causing the problem, and preparing for climate change that is now unavoidable.

Curbing greenhouse gas emissions alone will cost some $210 billion (105 billion pounds) annually by 2030, through measures such as investing in energy efficiency and low-carbon renewable energy, the report said.

"To meet the main part of this goal of returning emissions to 2004 (levels) by 2030, you don't mainly need extra money but a shift in investments away from building new power generating capacity towards improving energy efficiency," said de Boer.