The Copenhagen climate summit was thrown into disarray last night after developing countries said the current plans for a deal on global warming condemned millions of people to "absolute devastation".
The text was interpreted by developing countries as setting unequal limits on carbon emissions for developed and developing countries.
The row broke out after the draft text of a deal allegedly prepared by the Danish government emerged, which campaigners claimed favoured rich countries and risked squeezing poor nations out of the negotiations.
The draft agreement, published online by The Guardian, was interpreted by developing countries as setting unequal limits on carbon emissions for developed and developing countries - meaning that people in rich countries would be permitted to emit nearly twice as much.
They also expressed concern that a 'climate fund' - supposed to provide financial assistance from richer nations to developing countries - would be run by the World Bank, under the control of developed nations.
Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, the chief negotiator for the G77, a group of 130 developing nations including China, said the leaders of the rich world had a "moral obligation" to cut greenhouse gases.
He said failure to keep temperature rise below 2C (3.6F) would lead to the disappearance of island states and 'certain death' for Africa.
He also said the United States President Barack Obama was condemning "the cousins and extended family of his own daughters to be destroyed to preserve the interests of the few".
And he said the 10 billion dollar funding per annum proposed by Gordon Brown to help poor countries adapt to climate change was not enough to "buy developing nations citizens enough coffins".
