By Pete Harrison

BRUSSELS, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The European Commission warned on Wednesday that global warming might be more devastating than previously thought and called on negotiators at global talks this year to remain open to deeper, more costly emissions cuts.

"This is almost certainly the last chance to get the climate under control before it passes the point of no return," European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told reporters.

He made the warning as he unveiled a proposed European negotiating position for talks in December in Copenhagen on a successor to the Kyoto protocol, the U.N.'s main tool against climate change.

The EU plan, which must still be approved by member states, comes amid fresh optimism that U.S. President Barack Obama will add momentum to the U.N. talks after having already pledged emissions cuts at home.

His predecessor, George W. Bush, angered environmentalists by shunning the Kyoto pact in 2001, hampering the quest for a global deal.

The EU executive said it would call for emissions from the aviation and shipping industries to be tackled, despite the fact that both sectors are seen suffering from global recession.

GROWING EVIDENCE

The Commission cited growing scientific evidence that emissions will have to be stabilised at lower levels than previously thought, possibly as low as 350 parts per million, compared to current levels of 380 ppm.

"It is imperative to secure an ambitious outcome in Copenhagen that leaves the door open for a lower stabilisation level," it said.

The most developed economies should make polluters pay through an OECD-wide carbon-trading market by 2015, and emissions from shipping and aviation should be tackled at a global level, the report said.

Annual spending to cut global emissions would have to reach 175 billion euros ($232 billion) by 2020, with more than half of that in developing countries.

But the report omitted plans described in an earlier draft for a $200 billion levy on rich countries between 2013 and 2020 to help poor nations agree concrete steps to cut emissions -- one of the key obstacles in climate talks so far.

"Unless developing countries see hard cash on the table, there is a real danger they will simply walk away," Oxfam campaigner Elise Ford said.

"It seems the Commission is pandering to member states' expected opposition to put money on the table -- fuelled by their worries about the impact of the recession," she added.

The Commission called on industrialised nations to cut their emissions to 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

All but the poorest developing countries should limit emissions to 15-30 percent below business-as-usual levels, with a rapid decrease in emissions due to deforestation, it added.

(Reporting by Pete Harrison; editing by Mark John)

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