Tensions surfaced despite efforts to restore calm to the 12-day negotiations after a row over an early draft text proposed by Denmark, the conference's chairman.

The tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu drove a wedge in the bloc of developing nations by calling for discussions on an amendment to the Kyoto Protocol.

For the first time, it would require China, India and other fast-growing high-population nations to take on legally-binding commitments to slash CO2 pollution after 2013.

The move was swiftly opposed by the big developing countries, ripping open a faultline within the so-called G-77 plus China bloc of 130 nations.

Until now, the group has stood by a diplomatic axiom that has prevailed since the UN climate convention came into being in 1992: rich countries caused global warming, and it was their responsibility to fix it.

According to this stance, only rich nations should be required to sign up to legally-binding emissions curbs under Kyoto.

But small island states and least developed countries -- which supported Tuvalu's move -- have become increasingly worried that such an approach will not rein in a dangerous surge of emissions in the future.

This pollution will come not from the industrialised world but from the high-population economies of China, India and Brazil.

Taukiei Kitara, head of Tuvalu's delegation, told AFP that the proposed constraints "would mostly remain on developed countries but also, partly, on big developing economies as well."

Kitara acknowledged that the proposal marked the first serious breach in a hitherto united front.

"We know the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol is not complete and we want to create an impulse for a stronger commitment," Kitara said, referring to the landmark treaty that, under its present commitment period, imposes emissions cuts on rich nations up to 2012.

The 42-member Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), including Tuvalu, and the bloc of mainly African Least Developed Countries, have rejected the widely held goal of keeping global temperatures from rising more than 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) as inadequate.

Only a cap of 1.5 C (2.7 F) compared to pre-industrial times would give these nations a chance of fighting off rising seas or crippling drought, they say.

The Copenhagen conference is taking place under the 194-nation UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

If all goes well, more than 110 leaders from around the world, including US President Barack Obama, Premier Wen Jiabao of China, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and leaders of the European Union (EU), will seal a historic deal at the climax on December 18.

A framework accord would spell out national pledges for curbing heat-trapping carbon emissions and pump hundreds of billions of dollars in aid to poor countries, providing them with newer technology and the means to toughen their defences against the impact of climate change.

Further talks would be needed, probably throughout 2010, to fill in the details of the skeletal agreement.

Negotiators had sought to restore calm after a row on Tuesday over a leaked 11-day-old early text, proposed by Denmark, that apparently sought to sound out opinion amongst a select number of countries.

The G77 lashed it as an attempted stitch-up that was skewed in favour of rich nations.

But UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer insisted the draft was out of date and had no chance of being endorsed as the final version.

Many delegates expressed exasperation over the row, which they described as bogus or a distraction from the negotiations themselves.

Copenhagen hosts alternative climate summit
Copenhagen (AFP) Dec 9, 2009 - Amazon Indians, Malawi farmers, Tibetan monks and Inuits from Greenland exchanged ideas Wednesday on how to combat global warming at a boisterous alternative forum in Copenhagen on the sidelines of UN climate talks.

"Only pressure from civil society can save the planet," insisted Elis Ngacimek, a 30-year-old American from Kodiak Island, Alaska, where the effects of global warming are being felt and "really worrying me."

He is one of 500 volunteers helping out at the Peoples' Climate Summit, which is expected to draw some 10,000 participants.

"I like to meet people from all over the world, exchange ideas. It's great fun, even if the situation is not," Ngacimek told AFP.

A harried spokeswoman for the forum whose phone was ringing off the hook, Kristine Holten-Andersen, said the event was open to anyone who wanted to take part.

"Everybody can present their ideas, discuss them and develop constructive solutions to the climate crisis, far from the redundant official speeches," she said in between phone calls.

With its headquarters located in a modern sporting facility in central Copenhagen, the alternative summit is a colourful festival featuring 150 debates and lectures, 50 films, plays, concerts and exhibits.

Piling up burlap bags, the kind used by islanders in India's Ganges delta to protect themselves from the floods brought on by cyclones and monsoons, Pradip Saha of New Delhi's Center for Science and Environment said the climate woes were "real" in his country.

"Every year you have flooding and once you have flooding with sea water, the land becomes saline and you can't farm it," he said, showing films and photos to hit the message home.

"These are very poor people, their carbon footprint is almost zero. They don't have cars but they are in the front line and most affected by climate change," he lamented.

Meanwhile, a group of Danish high school students visiting the forum with their teacher tried to understand the situation for islands that risk disappearing under the sea if waters continue to rise.

"It's interesting to talk to the people from these countries to learn how they are coping with the threat of climate change," said 14-year-old Nicco Halberg.

Not too far away, a group of women in their 60s sitting under Tibet posters sipped organic coffees, their blue t-shirts emblazoned with the message "How long can we wait? We are not waiting".

"We're trying to convince women to make dinners with less beef and more fruit and vegetables, and to use recycled bags to do their shopping," said Karen Inger Callisen, a member of the Danish section of the women's network Soroptimist International.

The forum also allows developing countries -- which are negotiating highly technical texts at the UN-led talks several kilometres (miles) away -- to vent their frustration over the situation they find themselves in.

Industrialised countries "have to pay their climate debt now," said Guillermo, a participant from Bolivia.

"For a lot of poor countries, it's a question of survival. The polluters have to pay if there is to be any justice."

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