Climate talks on brink of collapse as rich and poor nations collide

Hopes of a deal on climate change were threatened today by a clash between rich and poor nations.

Developing countries reacted furiously to a leaked draft agreement which would allow rich countries to link financial aid to cuts in carbon emissions in the third world. The document was drawn up in Copenhagen by the Danish hosts in conjunction with countries such as Britain and America.

Although some observers suggested the agreement was one of many in circulation, the angry reaction created serious divisions between nations.

African countries hit by drought and island states in danger of being overwhelmed by rising sea levels claim that the draft text reverses the main tenet of the Kyoto agreement, which put the onus on Western countries, which have created the bulk of carbon emissions, to take action against climate change.

Lumumba Di-Aping, the Sudanese ambassador to the US and lead negotiator for the G77 group of developing countries, was quoted as saying: "The text is a very serious development and very unfortunate. It is a major violation that threatens the success of the Copenhagen negotiations.

"The Danish text destroys both the Kyoto protocol and the UN framework convention on climate change itself. It superimposes a solution on developing countries."

Andy Atkins, executive director of Friends of the Earth, told the Guardian that the text was "profoundly destructive" and violated the principle of the UN negotiations.

The document is said to propose that rich countries would be allowed carbon emission targets twice as high as developing nations in the future.

Developing countries say the document put power over climate change in the hand of bodies such as the World Bank, which favour bigger nations.

Antonio Hill, climate adviser for Oxfam International, said: "It highlights the risk that when the big countries come together, the small ones get hurt."

The Danish delegation refused to comment, but UK sources played down the significance of the leak. The UN said the paper was an informal document.