Europe has sought to establish itself at the forefront of the climate campaign and a summit of EU leaders was expected to produce a promise of six billion euros (nine billion dollars) to help poorer nations between 2010-2012.

Britain has offered 800 million pounds (885 million euros) while Sweden, which holds the rotating EU presidency, has pledged 765 million euros and Denmark, Belgium and Finland each promised between 100 million and 160 million euros on Thursday, as a two-day EU summit got underway in Brussels.

Conditions for aid were set by German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle who said: "We're not going to hand over a blank cheque so that others can wriggle out of their responsibilities."

Poland's European affairs minister, Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, added: "Nobody wants to pay for Copenhagen."

Germany and France have not announced their figures but France also wants Europe to commit to greater greenhouse emission cuts than the 20 percent already promised by 2020, against 1990 levels, its environment minister said.

The EU has offered to go to 30 percent if other industrialised blocs make similar pledges but Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said ahead of the Brussels summit that France wants Europe to set an automatic 30 percent cut "as soon as possible".

On day four of the Copenhagen talks, blocs of countries pitched competing visions for a deal as the early arrival of environment ministers stoked pressure for an outcome.

Rival papers tabled by African countries, small island states, emerging giant economies and conference chair Denmark jockeyed for a place in a draft compromise.

They set down varying targets on curbing greenhouse gases that fuel global warming and funding for poor countries so that they can meet this potentially mortal threat.

The next step will be to hammer these texts into a workable blueprint for haggling next week.

"This is a three-layer cake: we started, then our ministers take over, then ours leaders take over," said Dessima Williams of Grenada, who represents the Associations of Small Island States (AOSIS).

Heated negogiations continued late Thursday, as France clashed with other EU nations over how to calculate carbon emissions absorbed and emitted by forests, a key component of a climate deal.

French climate ambassador Brice Lalonde slammed a proposal favoured by countries with huge forestry industries -- especially Finland, Sweden and Austria -- as containing "sloppy, even fraudulent" accounting methods.

Divisions were also clear among poorer nations, with a row that has delayed work in key negotiation pools rumbling on.

Tuvalu -- population 10,000 -- pressed a demand that the conference discuss its idea that emerging giant economies be tied to binding emissions cuts under a new round of pledges under the Kyoto Protocol.

The proposal drives at the heart of a nearly two-decade-old axiom that only rich nations, and not poor ones, should commit to legal curbs on fossil-fuel pollution.

Underpinning Tuvalu's demand is that island states, and other highly vulnerable nations, could be devasted by warming inflicted by uncontrolled emissions from China, India and Brazil.

Friction was also visible between China and the United States, the world's top two polluters, whose positions are central to any climate deal.

China said countries like the United States must pay out billions of dollars in compensation to poorer countries -- but a US official said China would not be at the top of any US list of countries receiving support.

UN climate chief Yvo de Boer said, however, that the mood had improved since the start and that progress is being made.

If all goes well, a deal will be endorsed by all nations that have signed up to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Those attending the Copenhagen summit include US President Barack Obama, Premier Wen Jiabao of China, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia was the latest to announce that he would be there.

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