By James Mackenzie
PARIS (Reuters) - France will push the Group of 20 countries to impose a tax on financial transactions to raise billions of dollars to help developing nations fight climate change, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday.
Speaking at a conference on forests, Sarkozy repeated his call for a renewed effort on climate change after the "frustrating" Copenhagen conference in December, aiming his fire at "all those who, behind their fine words, want to do nothing."
"Those who don't want to do anything are those who don't want to pay. If the money isn't there, the ones who will pay for the consequences are the poor," he said in a speech.
Sarkozy said new sources of funding would be needed for the $100 billion committed at the Copenhagen climate conference and he said he would push for a tax on financial transactions when France takes the chair of the G20 next year.
"Only innovative financing will allow us to meet this challenge," he said. "I will take, with others, initiatives at the G20 to ensure a tax on financial transactions is rapidly adopted."
More than 100 nations have endorsed a Copenhagen Accord, the main outcome of the December summit, which seeks to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) and foresees almost $30 billion in aid for developing nations from 2010-12, rising to $100 billion a year from 2020.
"The division isn't between the North and the South but between countries that want to act and those that want to wait for the storm to pass," he said.
Without naming any countries, Sarkozy said France would have to overcome opposition within the G20 and he called for backing from countries committed to change.
"If France and a few others are alone at the G20, we won't get there," he said. "We have Africa behind us, we have parts of Asia with us, we have Latin America with us."
He said opposition did not just come from richer countries, pointing to divisions among the so-called Group of Five emerging countries, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, India and China.
"When you say G5, there are those that want to move forward and those that want to stop. I won't name any names."
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