NAIROBI, Nov 14 (Reuters) - The African Development Bank (AfDB) may create a new facility for rich nations to fund emission cuts on the world's poorest continent under the Kyoto Protocol, a U.N. climate change conference heard on Tuesday.

The Kyoto treaty sets limits on emissions by industrialised countries, but lets them meet these by funding clean energy projects in the developing world.

This trade, called the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), was worth some $5 billion in the past 20 months or so, but has mostly gone to China, Brazil and India.

"AfDB is concerned about the lack of CDM projects in Africa, but we do have funding for baseline CDM projects," said Wim Klunne, coordinator of the bank's Finesse project, which is developing clean and renewable energy policy for the Tunis-based AfDB.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is expected to announce a two-year plan aimed at helping Africa set up CDM and climate change adaptation projects when he addresses the meeting on Wednesday.

Abyd Karmali, European managing director for ICF International consultants working for the AfDB, said the proposed new facility would highlight opportunities for reducing emissions, help countries build capacity to develop projects and establish the necessary institutions.

"We are not trying to duplicate activities already ongoing," Karmali said. "We are all very aware of the role of private sector investment (in the CDM)... We are looking at some kind of sign-posting system so the AfDB can identify opportunities."

The U.N. says the global CDM trade could reach $100 billion annually by 2050.

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