Global financier the International Monetary Fund has announced a plan for the world's governments to pool together to raise money needed to adapt to climate change.

IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the fund was worried about the huge amount of money needed and the effect that will have on the global economy.

He added that the proposal may help efforts to reach a binding agreement on climate change later this year.

Mr Strauss-Kahn proposed that countries adopt a quota system similar to the one it uses to raise its own money, which could bring in money faster than proposals to increase carbon taxes or other fundraising methods.

The organisation will release a paper later this week with full details.

The IMF raises funds from its 185 members mainly through a quota system that is based broadly on each country's economic size. The United States is currently the largest shareholder.

“We all know that (carbon taxes and other fundraising methods) will take time and we don't have this time. So we need something which looks like an interim solution, which will bridge the gap between now and the time when those carbon taxes will be big enough to solve the problem,” Mr Strauss-Kahn said. “And that is exactly what the IMF proposal is dealing with.”

He said a climate change accord reached last December estimated $100bn (£66bn) a year will be needed by 2020 to fund programmes, including those to help poor nations deal with droughts, flooding and food shortages expected from climate change.

Nations failed to reach a binding deal in Copenhagen in December, but agreed on a voluntary plan to control greenhouse gas emissions which scientists predict will worsen weather-related disasters.