In the game of climate poker, developing nations might feel they have the right cards on the table in U.N. talks after ramping up efforts to curb greenhouse gas output.

A U.N. climate deal to in Copenhagen in December will also be vital to guide trade and development policies, Denmark's Prime Minister said on Thursday.

Lars Lokke Rasmussen told Reuters he hoped that a summit of world leaders at U.N. headquarters on September 22 would be a "tipping point" to give momentum to stalled negotiations for a climate treaty before the December 7-18 talks.

The United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) in his message to commemorate the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, on Wednesday, has urged for implementation of agreed environmental goals, targets and objectives for protection of the "Earth's Protective Shield." "Without action on climate change, the world faces profound social, economic and environmental disruption," warned

Japan's new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, has pledged to target a 25 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020, despite opposition from industry, which says the goal will hurt the economy.

The target, more ambitious than the previous government's, is premised on a deal on goals being agreed by major nations.

Banks, pension funds and other investment groups representing more than $13 trillion in assets called for a strong global agreement on climate policy on Wednesday, saying it would lead to a flood of investment into the low-carbon economy.

Japan's target for a 25 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 could include purchases of carbon credits from abroad, the country's new environment minister said on Thursday.

Our current approach to solving global warming will not work. It is flawed economically, because carbon taxes will cost a fortune and do little, and it is flawed politically, because negotiations to reduce CO2 emissions will become ever more fraught and divisive. And even if you disagree on both counts, the current approach is also flawed technologically.

The Obama administration

Europe could pay poor countries up to 15 billion euros ($22 billion) a year by 2020 to persuade them to help battle climate change, the European Union's executive arm said on Thursday.

The world must devise a climate change treaty that will allow all countries to contribute to cutting emissions and not drive companies and jobs to other nations, the U.N.'s top climate official said on Thursday.