But the Australian submission, which requires poorer nations to list all the programs they want funded, has sparked discontent from developing countries who want to know how much the world is prepared to commit to global financing.

Australia, with most of the developed world, has yet to say how much it is prepared to commit to a financing program, which is crucial to getting a strong international climate change agreement at talks in Copenhagen in December. Last month the World Bank estimated that by 2030 the world would have to spend $550 billion a year on these financing mechanisms.

Australia's submission on climate change financing was made at United Nations climate change negotiations in Bangkok that end this week. In a speech to the UN, the climate change negotiator Jane Wilkinson said Australia wanted a "matching mechanism" so money could be matched to climate change programs.

Having countries list programs they wanted funded would improve accountability and solve governance problems in climate change financing, she said.

The climate change manager with the Australia Conservation Foundation, Tony Mohr, who is in Bangkok, said developing countries were still waiting for developed countries to support new ways to raise the billions of dollars needed.

"This will be the biggest financing program in the world's history," Mr Mohr said. "It will [amount to] hundreds of billions of dollars a year over decades …

"Australia has started to explain how it sees climate finance should be spent, but remains silent on how much money is needed, and how that money should be raised."