Some 193 countries have adopted an agreement to increase finance flows to the developing world, at a summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The “action agenda” includes a call on rich countries to meet their commitment to mobilise US$100 billion a year from 2020 to deal with climate change.

This is seen as key to unlocking a meaningful global climate deal in Paris this December, as well as agreeing post-2015 sustainable development goals.

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said: “This agreement is a critical step forward in building a sustainable future for all. It provides a global framework for financing sustainable development.”

Development groups criticised the summit for yielding no new money to end poverty and little to overhaul the international financial system, however.

Danny Sriskandarajah, head of Civicus, a global alliance of civil society organisations, expressed disappointment.

“The outcome will not deliver the reforms we need in areas like tax… that are needed to increase the resources available for development,” he said.

Rich countries “seem unable or unwilling to increase official aid flows,” he added, “which stand at a fraction of what they themselves promised years ago.”