The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday said it would launch a new fund next month, helped by pledges of 100 million dollars, to promote low-carbon projects in Asia.

The scheme seeks to ease the deepening worry surrounding the future of the carbon market beyond the end of 2012, when current provisions under the Kyoto Protocol run out, the ADB said at the UN climate talks in Poznan.

Over 100 million dollars have been promised to the new Future Carbon Fund, which will begin operations on January 30, ADB Vice President Ursula Schaefer-Preuss said at a press conference.

The money has been pledged mainly by European countries, led by Finland, Sweden and the Belgian province of Flanders, and the goal is to eventually top this up to 200 million dollars with the help of the private sector, she said.

One of the drivers for the Future Carbon Fund is concern about what will happen beyond 2012, she said.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, rich countries that have ratified the pact are required to curb their emissions of greenhouse gases by the end of 2012 compared to a benchmark year of 1990.

They can use several market-based tools to achieve this target, including the so-called Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), under which they gain carbon credits that can be bought and sold with other signatories.

The credits are gained by investing in projects in poor countries that are calculated to mitigate carbon emissions there.

But negotiations on a treaty that goes beyond Kyoto's 2012 commitments are moving slowly.

Corporations are keen on reaping carbon credits, but unsure about committing to investment if there could be a delay in getting the return, said Schaefer-Preuss.

"We believe the short remaining time under the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period, and [an] uncertain regulatory framework beyond 2012, is beginning to hamper the trade in carbon credits, which in turn is reflected in the initiation of new low-carbon projects in developing countries," said Schaefer-Preuss.

The main innovation of the Future Carbon Fund will be to make finance available upfront to project developers instead of the standard "payment on delivery" method, she said.

Likely projects will be in renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transport and urban sanitation.

The announcement was made on the sidelines of the December 1-12 talks under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), tasked with advancing towards agreement, in December 2009, for the post-2012 treaty.