President Mohamed Nasheed has welcomed British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for coming up with “a bold, yet realistic, ‘Roadmap to Copenhagen’.

In a letter to the British premiere, President Nasheed thanked the Prime Minister for his positive role “in encouraging world leaders to turn general offers to help into concrete, costed assistance packages for poor, vulnerable nations”.

In a speech in London on Friday, Prime Minister Brown called on international leaders to set aside $100 billion per year to be used by poorer nations to help them adapt to and mitigate against climate change.

The British Prime Minister said that adaptation assistance afforded to vulnerable, developing countries should be new money, above and beyond existing international aid budgets.

“Finance for adaptation should be to the poorest and most vulnerable countries,” Brown said during his speech. “The UK will contribute our fair share to climate financing separately from and in addition to our promises on ain and Millennium Development Goals.”

In his letter, President Nasheed expressed appreciation to “the UK’s climate change efforts”, and said that the Maldives was prepared to extend its full commitment to work closely with the Prime Minster “in ensuring that the world seals a comprehensive deal in Copenhagen”.