There were high hopes in November when a global climate summit in Egypt adjourned with the creation of a fund to help poor countries cope with the ravages of global warming. But less than three months later, there are few signs that the United States and other wealthy nations will step up to bankroll the much-hyped fund. That’s why U.S. climate negotiator John F. Kerry said he had a succinct answer last month — at the Davos international economic conference — when he was asked about what he needed. “Money, money, money, money,” Kerry recalls saying. “It’s what we need,”...