Brussels - EU leaders missed a chance during a two-day summit ending Friday to take the initiative on climate change policy when they opted to delay any decisions until the autumn, environmental groups have warned.

"European leaders were right to state that the time has now come for the international community to speed up the pace of negotiations and take the commitments needed to limit global warming to under 2 degrees Celsuis," said Jason Anderson, head of European climate and energy policy at the WWF.

"The question inevitably arises, therefore, why didn't they make a decision that actually supports such goals?" he asked.

Leaders of European countries agreed at the European Council summit to set October 30 as a deadline for a bloc decision on how to share the bill for fighting climate change in poor states.

Summit attendees agreed that developed countries and major rising powers such as China and India should split that bill, estimated at 100 billion euros (139.4 billion dollars) per year, based on ability to pay and responsibility for emissions.

But they put off until autumn a debate over how the EU's 27 member states should break down Europe's share of the bill.

The WWF said this approach appears to put the onus on developing countries to explain why they need support in the fight against climate change.

The delaying tactic also risks that the EU will arrive at a climate change conference in Copenhagen in December with no joint policy.

"No action from the EU now, leaves the road wide open for less ambitious countries like Japan and the US to water down the deal," said Joris den Blanken, EU climate and energy policy director for Greenpeace.

Greenpeace called on European countries in the G8 to use that forum to push for some kind of climate change plan with details on payment plans and commitments. (dpa)