Full climate deal unlikely by Copenhagen: Barroso

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A full-fledged international climate deal to fight global warming will not be reached next month in Copenhagen but a framework pact is still possible, the head of the European Commission said Tuesday.

"Of course, we are not going to have a full-fledged binding treaty - Kyoto type - by Copenhagen," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters before meeting with President Barack Obama. "There is no time for that."

But Barroso said he believed it was still possible to develop a framework agreement with clear commitments from developed and developing countries.

Such a framework would include firm timetables for lower emissions from richer countries and an agreement on what actions developing countries will take, Barroso said.

Developed countries like the United States and EU members need to put "numbers on the table" for emission cuts and funding to help developing countries," he said.

The EU has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 and to go as high as 30 percent depending on what others do, Barroso said.

But a month before the Copenhagen meeting, work in the U.S. Senate on legislation to address climate change has barely begun and is not expected to finish this year.

The Senate plan, which already faces stiff opposition, calls for a 20-percent cut in U.S. emissions from 2005 levels.

BETTER MOOD

Barroso credited Obama with improving the international mood surrounding climate negotiations by placing much more importance on the issue than his predecessor, George W. Bush.

"We really welcome his efforts, but let's see what the United States is ready to present at Copenhagen," he said.

The European Commission estimates that developing countries will need about $150 billion in public and private funding annually by 2020 to adapt to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

EU members states agreed last week to provide a "fair share" of that funding, Barroso said, saying he planned to raise the issue with Obama.

He said such financing would be linked to developing countries implementing national plans to cut emissions.

Officials from around the world will be meeting on December 7 to hash out an global agreement to lower the greenhouse gas emissions that are blamed for global warming.

Currently rich and poor nations are deadlocked about how to share the burden of curbing emissions and aid to fund a deal.

"It's quite obvious Copenhagen will not be the end of the road -- but it can be a very, very important moment to signal at the highest level this kind of global agreement," Barroso said.

(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton and Ayesha Rascoe, editing by Alan Elsner)