UNITED NATIONS, (Reuters) – Poor countries already  suffering from the impact of climate change urgently need up to  $2 billion to help adjust and cope, a new report submitted to  the United Nations said yesterday.

The funds are needed to help the most vulnerable countries,  mostly in Africa and small island states, the Stockholm-based  Commission on Climate Change and Development (CCCD) said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a meeting in New  York on the CCCD report that effects such as droughts, floods,  storms, forest fires and melting glaciers hit the poor most.

“Billions of people are at risk,” he said. “That is why  adaptation (to climate change) is a key element in the  negotiations for a new climate deal.”

Ban said simple community-based measures can save lives,  such as early warning systems, disaster planning and improved  management of crops and land.

The CCCD report calls for donors to immediately mobilize $1  billion to $2 billion. The commission said current financing  mechanisms for adjusting to climate change are problematic and  countries must be able to receive and distribute funds from  multiple sources with a minimum of transaction costs.
Gunilla Carlsson, who chairs the CCCD and is Sweden’s  minister for international development cooperation, said that  fighting poverty and climate change are “inseparable.”

The United Nations is striving for a new climate treaty to  be agreed at a conference in Copenhagen in December. A new  treaty would succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which limits  climate-warming greenhouse emissions and expires in 2012.

Ban said the “clock is ticking” ahead of the meeting and  urged U.N. member states to agree a deal that cuts greenhouse  gas emissions, promotes green development and helps the most  vulnerable countries adapt to a changing climate.