Finance ministers from around 20 countries met in Bali today to discuss the costs of climate change and ways to tackle the issue.

The first-ever finance ministers meeting was held on the sideline of the two-week UN climate change conference, which will end Friday.

The ministers meeting is expected to pave the way for developing and developed countries to agree on a common objective on the financial issues of climate change, thereby leading to more appropriate policies for sustainable development and support for the global carbon trading market.

The UN Bali climate change conference is tasked with drawing up a "roadmap" for negotiations on a new climate deal in the next two years before the current phase of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.