April 18 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown wants rich nations to channel $20 billion a year to help developing nations produce energy in a way that reduces damage to the environment, the Treasury said.

Brown, who will travel to Washington and New York this week, will call on the World Bank to develop a framework for raising money so that developing countries such as India, China and Brazil can produce energy with low carbon emissions.

``This is a global problem that needs a global response,'' Brown said, according comments released by the Treasury today. ``Climate change is an issue of justice as well as economic development. It is a problem caused by industrialized countries.''

The Group of Eight nations last year called on the World Bank to develop an ``investment framework'' and Brown now wants the Washington-based lender to speed up its work to plug what he says is a $60 billion annual shortfall in energy investment. Brown, who is seeking to succeed Prime Minister Tony Blair, has been addressing issues that stray from his economic and budgetary brief.

The $20 billion clean energy facility is likely to be funded by national governments, international bodies and private businesses and will be disbursed through grants and loans, according to the Treasury. Funds would be available for research on advanced coal burning technology and bioethanol as a fuel.

The cost to the U.K. and other governments will depend on the World Bank's plans, the Treasury said.

Burden on Poorest

Brown said the effects of global warming ``will disproportionately fall'' on the world's poorest nations in Africa, Latin America and Asia and said today's call is part of a wider plan to tackle global poverty. Brown said there is ``overwhelming evidence'' that climate change results from ``human activity.''

The average global temperature is likely to rise by at least 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 Fahrenheit) even if countries agree to limit greenhouse gas emissions, the London-based Times said on April 15, citing the U.K. government's Chief Scientist David King. He said the most optimistic projections suggest carbon dioxide levels will reach 500 parts per million in the atmosphere, twice the level during the pre-industrial period, said King.

``All countries have to respond and adapt to meet the challenge of global climate change,'' Brown said. ``The developed world has a responsibility to help developing economies meet their energy needs in an environmentally sustainable way.''

Renewable Energy

In the past 30 years, $27.4 billion has been spent on renewable research and development budgets, according to the International Energy Agency in Paris. So far, renewable energy accounts for just 5.5 percent of all primary fuel used by the IEA's 26-member nations, with hydropower accounting for 2 percent, combustibles such as ethanol 2.9 percent and wind 0.6 percent.

Oil and gas companies will spend an estimated $238 billion on exploration and production this year alone, up 15 percent from 2005, according to a Lehman Brothers survey of 325 companies. The American Petroleum Industry said its members have sunk $1.2 billion into non-hydrocarbon technology in the five years from 2000 to 2005, or about 8 percent of the total spent in the U.S.

Brown, 54, is beginning to address topics such as national security and national identity that are the traditional terrain of the prime minister. While Blair has said he wants to serve a full third term, which could last until 2010, political analysts widely expect he will step down in the next 18 to 24 months, with Brown succeeding him.

Local Elections

Other politicians will also focus on the environment as both Blair's Labour Party and the main opposition Conservative Party prepare to fight local elections on May 4. Conservative leader David Cameron told British Broadcasting Corp. radio today that he plans to travel to Norway to witness the effects of global warming on glaciers.

Surveys indicate voters want renewable forms of energy such as wind, solar and tidal power to generate electricity in the future. Seventy-eight percent of adults favor renewable energy and conservation to nuclear power, according to a survey of 1,491 people by Ipsos-Mori Ltd. between Oct. 1 and Nov. 6, 2005.

During his trip to Maputo, Mozambique, last week, Brown said the U.K. and Brazil would help southern African countries to develop ethanol production for use as fuel.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gonzalo Vina in London at gvina@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 18, 2006 05:14 EDT