European Union leaders have reached an agreement on a proposal to present at the global climate talks in Copenhagen in December. Developing countries will require 100 billion euros by 2020 to address climate change, with a portion coming from the public funds of wealthy nations, including the EU. This development was hailed as a significant breakthrough by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. East European countries stated that the summit resolved a disagreement on how to divide the EU's share of the bill in a manner that would not negatively impact their economies as they bounce back from crisis. The Polish minister for Europe, Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, described this as a success for Poland, emphasizing the desire for rapid development and not being relegated to a museum of eastern European folklore. However, leaders did not reach a specific agreement on how to divide the bill and delegated this task to a new working party. "I would have preferred for this burden-sharing mechanism to be ready now, but unfortunately, it proved to be too challenging," stated Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The two-day summit successfully obtained a complicated negotiating mandate for the Copenhagen discussions in order to find a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations initiative to combat climate change that will expire in 2012. The success of these discussions is likely to depend on financial resources. Developing nations are insisting on adequate funds from wealthier countries in order to commit to addressing climate change, as the latter are primarily responsible for environmental damage due to their use of oil and coal in their industries over many years. Developing countries may use these funds to adjust their agricultural practices or seek new water sources in areas suffering from drought. The European leaders have decided to delay their previous plans for providing "fast start" financing to developing nations in the three years leading up to a new climate deal. Oxfam, an anti-poverty group, criticized Europe's proposal for lacking sufficient funds and guarantees that the money would not be taken from existing aid commitments. Oxfam's Elise Ford warned that if rich countries divert aid money to pay for climate issues, it could harm efforts to fight poverty. The opposition from east European countries eased after Sweden, which led the talks, addressed the issue of "hot air" - the excess carbon permits held by eastern European states, Russia, and Ukraine. These countries have about 9 billion tonnes of spare permits from when their economies collapsed after the end of communist rule. The additional permits, referred to as AAUs, can be traded to major polluters like Japan for around 10 euros per tonne. Eastern European nations are in favor of continuing to sell AAUs in the new agreement that replaces Kyoto. However, countries like Germany argue that this practice weakens the agreement's integrity and advocate for eliminating them as they reduce the urgency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to an EU diplomat, Sweden secured support from eastern Europe for the overall agreement by delaying significant action on AAUs. The agreement also includes commitments to reduce domestic emissions, with a promise to deepen cuts to 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 if other countries follow suit.