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The United States will be allowed to buy its way out of adopting a more stringent target on cutting greenhouse gas emissions in a compromise being brokered by Britain.

President Obama is unlikely to increase his previous weak offer on emissions when he joins the Copenhagen climate change summit on Friday. He will instead be expected to make a significant financial commitment to a global climate protection fund.

Ed Miliband, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, endorsed the deal yesterday and suggested that it was the best outcome that could be expected given the difficulties that Mr Obama faced in persuading Congress to accept climate change legislation.

Mr Miliband said: “Countries have to do what they are able to. I think we have to judge what everyone has to offer in the round. For developed countries, both the [carbon reduction] and the finance they provide is crucial.”

However, the compromise will anger many because it will allow the US, which is responsible for more of the carbon in the atmosphere than any other country, to avoid the swift and painful transition to a low-carbon economy being proposed by the EU.

Mr Obama has made a provisional offer to cut US emissions by 4 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020. The EU has committed to cutting its emissions by 20 per cent over the same period and to raise that to 30 per cent if other countries make comparable efforts.

Mr Miliband hinted that a significant pledge on finance from Mr Obama would be sufficient for the EU to commit to a 30 per cent cut.

Climate bills considered by Congress contain proposals for about $7 billion (£4.3 billion) of public finance in 2020 to protect rainforests and to help poor countries to adapt to climate change and convert to renewable energy.

Gordon Brown, who arrived in Copenhagen last night, will hold private meetings with other leaders today to seek support for his proposal for a $100 billion annual fund to help poor countries.Mr Brown will propose that the UN establish a working group to recommend possible sources of finance for the climate fund, including a global financial transactions tax and a tax on aviation and shipping. He said: “We are at a critical moment. These are momentous decisions.”

Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary-General, hinted that the deal due to be agreed on Friday would contain a commitment to a climate fund.

Daryl Hannah, the actress and environmental campaigner, launched an outspoken attack on Mr Obama at the conference, where she was speaking on behalf of the Tck Tck Tck coalition of green groups. She said that Mr Obama was protecting corporate interests. “At the moment Obama is being a politician. He needs to be a leader and step up to the plate and address what the public is demanding, which is a route to a future that doesn’t kill us.”

Plans by up to 10,000 activists to storm the conference centre today suffered a setback when Danish police arrested several of their leaders, including Tadzio Müller, a spokesman for the umbrella group Climate Justice Action. A north Copenhagen squat used by activists was also raided and 36 people, including 13 Britons, were arrested outside Klima Forum, an alternative “people’s conference”.

The arrests came after a tense night in which the police cordoned off Christiania, a semi-autonomous district of Copenhagen, and cleared the area with teargas and water cannon.

Climate culprits

Per capita carbon emissions from consumption of energy

Metric tonnes of C02 (2007)

World 4.52

United States 19.94

Britain 9.28

Europe 7.88

China 4.75

Brazil 2.05

Nigeria 0.72

Per capita energy consumption

Million btu per person (2008)

World 73.1

United States 337.1

Britain 155.7

Europe 143.7

China 58.9

Brazil 52.2

Nigeria 7.3

Total petrol consumption

Thousand barrels per day (2008)

World 85,772

United States 19,497

Britain 1,709

Europe 16,146

China 7,831

Brazil 2,485

Nigeria 286

Gross Domestic Product

Millions of US dollars (2008)

World 61,070,000

United States 14,260,000

Britain 2,674,000

Europe 18,140,000

China 4,402,000

Brazil 1,665,000

Nigeria 220,300

Sources: Energy Information Administration, CIA World Factbook, UN: The State of the World’s Forests 2007