Canada is to give 100 million Canadian dollars (85 million US dollars) in aid to developing countries to tackle climate change, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Sunday.

He said that the additional assistance would help "vulnerable countries, particularly in Africa, the Caribbean and the South Pacific," according to Canadian broadcaster CBC.

The announcement was made at the closing ceremony of a three-day Francophonie summit in Quebec City, a biennial French-language equivalent of the Commonwealth.

"We are aware that developing countries do not have as many resources with which to manage climate change and adaptation to the climate," Harper said, adding that advanced economies such as Canada are in a position to help poorer countries.

Commenting on the widening international credit crunch, he said that "we have to remember that the countries of the south are certainly not responsible and not the source of this particular crisis in any way, shape or form."

On Friday at the annual Canada-European Union Summit, Harper said that his country and the EU were committed to forging a comprehensive economic partnership.

The unfolding global financial crisis makes liberalizing trade between Canada and the EU even more crucial, Harper said after a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

"Among other things, this means rejecting the frequent tendency in difficult times to turn inward and erect barriers between our economies and our citizens," Harper said. "Indeed, we must stand against protectionism and work to lower and eliminate barriers."

The ongoing global meltdown topped the agenda of talks between Harper, Sarkozy and Barosso as they met to launch a process that might eventually lead to an economic partnership between Canada and the EU, similar to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, the United States and Mexico. (dpa)