France to increase climate aid to €5bn

France will increase its financial support for developing nations to combat climate change from €3 billion to €5 billion, President Francois Hollande said on Monday.

Hollande addressed delegates at the United Nations General Assembly and said: "I announce that France's annual financing for climate which is today 3 billion euros will be five billion euros from 2020."

France is hosting the key UN Climate Change Conference in Paris from 30 November to 11 December when a global climate deal is due to be agreed between the 197 UN member states.

The aim of the COP21 summit is to limit greenhouse gas emissions and prevent an average global temperature increase of 2°C above industrial times with climate finance mechanisms for developing countries a key focus of the pre-summit negotiations so far.