The EU proposed a "global alliance" with developing countries to tackle climate change Wednesday, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.

"Developing countries will be the most affected by climate change and have the least resources to fight its affects," Barroso said at the second European Development Days conference in Lisbon.

The alliance will focus on financial support and technology transfers. The conference opened today and last until Friday.

The Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates — whose country also currently holds the rotating EU presidency — revealed that climate change will be the theme of the EU-Africa summit in Lisbon in December.

Africa is "the region of the world where the most immediate and devastating consequences will be," Socrates emphasized.