Paris climate talks should not put figure on finance, says World Bank vice-president

Rachel Kyte says governments at the 2009 summit agreed funding for developing countries by 'picking a $100bn figure out of the air'

The Paris conference on climate change should not set a target for future financial assistance to developing countries, according to the World Bank's top official on climate change.

The question of how rich countries should provide money to poor countries to help them cut greenhouse gases and cope with the effects of global warming will be crucial to success at Paris, and the World Bank's intervention is likely to be controversial in some quarters.