* Increase finance for poor to break climate impasse - EU * EU exec says ship, plane fuel could be taxed for climate * EU could pay a quarter of climate funds for poor nations (Adds detail, background, reaction) By Pete Harrison BRUSSELS, Sept 4 (Reuters) - The European Union could offer about a quarter of the money needed to break the stalemate between rich and poor countries in negotiations to tackle climate change, an EU paper says. "International negotiations currently appear to have reached an impasse," said a draft European Commission report on its contribution to global climate talks in Copenhagen in December. "One way to make progress might be to take an explicit step-by-step approach to scaling-up finance," added the report, obtained by Reuters. The European Union hopes to find unity on its contribution in coming weeks to boost the chances of success at international climate talks in Copenhagen in December. Its warning of an impasse came as experts preparing for a meeting of the world's finance ministers on Friday identified a "major financing gap". [ID:nL4505068] AFRICAN VETO Developing nations need 66-80 billion euros ($94-114 billion) by 2020 to cut emissions from industry and power stations, to tackle deforestation and to adapt to the impact of global warming, the EU report said. Some environmental campaigners put the total figure as high as $140 billion, and the debate has become central to the quest to find a replacement for the Kyoto protocol, which expires in 2012. Africa will veto any climate change deal that does not meet its demand for money, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said this week. [ID:nL3510909] Countries' wealth, in terms of gross domestic product, and their emissions of greenhouse gases will be key factors in determining their contributions. "The EU's 'fair share' of international financial flows ... would be unlikely to exceed 30 percent, and could be in a range of 20 percent to 30 percent," the EU report said. Environmental campaigners gave the report a guarded welcome. Oxfam campaigner Tim Gore said the EU looked to be taking the right path on sharing the costs of climate change, so long as it took account of the millions of people living below the poverty line in China and India. "Any plan to tax fuel for shipping and aviation should be tailored to ensure it does not push up the price of food shipments to developing countries," he added. Germany would be the biggest contributor in the 27-nation EU, followed by Britain, then France and Italy. The report also suggested those rich countries that will struggle to make deep emissions cuts, such as the United States, might compensate by paying more. (Reporting by Pete Harrison; Editing by Dale Hudson and Anthony Barker)
Air India's Boeing 747 aircraft stands on the tarmac after one of its engines caught fire, at the Mumbai airport September 4, 2009. A fire on an Air India flight with ...
