At a pre-Kyoto workshop in Bonn in October, the so-called G77 group -- 77 developing nations -- along with China, thumbed its collective nose at the U.S. by signing on to the European plan.
"The point is being made very loudly that African countries and the wider G77 bloc will not accept non-action on the Kyoto Protocol, and they're really afraid that a deal has been stitched up behind their backs, " he told BBC News.