GENEVA — Top-level government officials from around the world have begun three days of talks on how to set up a $100 billion a year fund to help poor countries cope with climate change.

The first meeting of the 24-member board of the UN's Green Climate Fund started Thursday in Geneva to organize itself, set rules and pick a host nation.

The fund would receive and distribute $100 billion that rich nations have pledged annually by 2020 to help poorer countries adapt to changing climate conditions and to move toward low-carbon economic growth.

Its creation was part of a deal struck in December 2011 at the 194-nation climate summit in Durban, South Africa. But the agreement did not specify how those funds would be mobilized.