DURBAN, South Africa - The European Union (EU) chief climate negotiator Wednesday said the Green Climate Fund board must start working "as early as 2012."

Tomasz Chruszczow was speaking at a press conference held on the third day of the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in South Africa.

"In the context of a satisfactory outcome on the green climate fund as well as the overall package from Durban, we want to see the board start as early as 2012," Chruszczow told journalists in Durban.

Chruszczow said the move to be taken must be the composition of a board to run the fund, which is meant to help developing countries adapt to climate change.

According to the EU negotiator, the United Nations climate change conference starting Monday must agree on a roadmap and deadline for finalizing an ambitious, comprehensive and legally binding global framework for climate action by all major economies.

He said agreement on this roadmap is one of the reassurances the EU requires for entering into a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.

Chruszczow said Durban also needs to make operational the decisions taken last year in Cancun, Mexico, and tackle major issues not resolved there. It should result in a balanced package of decisions acceptable to all parties.

He told journalist that the fund would play a huge role in furthering "mitigation and adaptation" in developing countries and will also assist with issues relating to technology cooperation and transfer.

The EU is expected to report in Durban on its progress in delivering on the 7.2 billion euro in "fast start" climate finance it has pledged to developing countries over the 2010-2012 period.