KEY POINTS:
Jimbaran, Indonesia - Finance ministers meeting on the fringes of climate talks in Bali agreed to further debate on Tuesday but little else after two days trying to find ways to fund the fight against global warming.
The meeting of more than 10 finance ministers and nearly 40 governments is considered the first ever gathering of finance officials specifically about global warming.
A senior US official said it was unrealistic to expect too much from the talks but Indonesia's president urged the ministers to do more.
"Ministers of finance can and should play a much larger and more active role in responding to climate change, both domestically and internationally," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said.
Government ministries including energy, industry, forestry and agriculture also had to take part, he added.
"That is why this meeting is historic and so important," he told the finance ministers, whose meeting followed trade talks at the weekend.
The ministers come from countries including Indonesia, Australia, Indonesia, Portugal, Singapore, Thailand and the Netherlands.
They agreed to consider further rounds of meetings, with World Bank chief Robert Zoellick offering to host talks next spring, while Poland invited finance ministers to a follow-up meeting at the next annual UN climate gathering.
It was unrealistic to expect more at the first such meeting, US Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs, David McCormick, told Reuters.
"If you look at practical steps that countries may take alone or together on this issue, they involve very significant questions around economic impacts and cost, clean technology... tax policy, these are core finance ministry issues."
"For an issue this complex the expectation you'd have 35 finance ministers come together and come to consensus on anything in any area let alone climate change is a bit unrealistic."
The United States announced on Tuesday its intention to divert US$19.6 million of sovereign debt due from Indonesia into tropical forest conservation instead.
Ministers discussed climate policies ranging from carbon markets to incentives for people to install solar panels.
"This (climate change) is much too important to leave to environment ministers," former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern told the meeting.
"The comprehensiveness of the problem (demands) heads of state and finance ministers are involved. This is about low-carbon growth not low growth, it's not about trading growth against climate responsibility."
Finance ministers had to give the private sector a better clue on what rewards they would get for investing in fighting climate change, said the head of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Angel Gurria.
"OK, if it's the private sector that will deal with it, what does it need foremost? Security and clear rules of the game."
The 190-nation talks in Bali are meant to launch negotiations on a pact to extend or replace the Kyoto Protocol, whose first phase ends on Dec 31, 2012.
A total of 36 industrialised countries are legally bound to meet emissions targets between 2008-2012 under Kyoto but developing nations are exempt.
- Reuters
