(Thumbnail image: Xinhua)

Read the "Danish Text" here. 

“The proposal would allow wealthy countries to cut fewer greenhouse gases while poorer nations face tougher limits on emissions. 192 countries are trying to draft an agreement to slow global warming.” (CNN)

A rift is growing at the climate change conference in Copenhagen.  Developing countries like China and India say being forced to cut emissions could slow their economies.

But smaller countries with a lot to lose from a warmer climate and rising sea levels say richer countries need to do more.

We’re looking at perspectives from The BBC.com, NTV Kenya, ABC News Australia, and Al Jazeera English.

On Tuesday, the British newspaper The UK’s The Guardian leaked Denmark’s plan for cutting emissions, the so-called “Danish text." The document stands accused of favoring Western nations by allowing them more emissions per capita.  The BBC.com explains.

“The whole exercise has the potential to disrupt things hugely as…it removes lots of power from the UN climate convention and legitimises a long-term inequality between developed and developing countries.”

NTV Kenya reports African nations in particular are very much opposed to Denmark’s plan.  

“We are not saying we want to walk out. We don’t want our negotiators to walk out. But please don’t force them to do so, because Africa is too hot for us, and we don’t want people to continue to take advantage of us.”

Australia’s ABC News interviews a climate change advisor who worries the leaked proposal will have some unintended consequences.

“The attention to this document I think takes the focus off of the negotiations that are actually still in course just this minute, and I think the responsibility of the Danish presidency is to clear the air and then focus on those crunch issues.”

Al Jazeera English reports the UN is trying to calm developing nations, saying the Danish proposals were informal drafts meant only to stimulate discussion.

“The head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat has said a leaked text which appears to undermine the existing Kyoto Protocol and on-going UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen is out of date and is unlikely to constitute the final outcome.”

Want to know more? Visit the transcripts tab for a link to the full text of the leaked proposal.

Writer: Michael Bittner

Producer: Ben Paul