While everybody expected scuffles in Copenhagen's climate talks this week, a proposal leaked to the Guardian, apparently formulated by Denmark, the U.S. and the U.K., suggests a battle between rich and poor.

While some dismiss the unofficial document as an aside in the debate, others fear it is a harbinger of the final agreement at Copenhagen and will further divide countries into “developed” and “developing” camps. The “Danish text,” as it has been dubbed, allows rich countries to emit more carbon than poor ones and removes climate negotiations from the UN, which currently gives poor countries voice. According to the Guardian, the proposal replaces the Kyoto carbon-trading system with one in which rich countries only pay poor countries if the poor countries take certain actions.

“Like ants in a room full of elephants, poor countries are at risk of been squeezed out of the climate talks in Copenhagen,” said Antonio Hill, climate advisor at Oxfam International. “As the talks ramp up and the big players put forward their proposals for the deal, it is vitally important that vulnerable countries are part of the debate.”

“The Danish Prime Minister's proposed text is weak and reflects a too elitist, selective and non-transparent approach by the Danish presidency,” said Kim Carstensen, head of the World Wildlife Fund's climate team.

But perhaps the most dramatic reaction to the leak comes from Lumumba di-Aping, the Sudanese negotiator speaking on behalf of developing nations. South African blogger Adam Weltz describes a weeping di-Aping calling the secret plan “climate fascism” and “certain death for Africans.”

“We are being asked to sign a suicide pact,” said Lumumba. “I would rather die with my dignity than sign a deal that will channel my people into a furnace.”

World Bank reports confirm that climate change impacts people in developing countries the most. The intensifying worldwide storm of extended dry seasons and excessive floods is already destroying entire families' livelihoods. Malaria-carrying mosquitoes could take advantage of rising temperatures and populate new areas, exposing 90 million more Africans to the deadly disease by 2030.

Anti-poverty groups agree the Copenhagen talks must produce a commitment to give developing countries the means to adapt to climate change and invest in the work already underway.

“Many Southern countries are already taking very significant steps in terms of dealing with climate change,” said Dennis Howlett, coordinator of Make Poverty History Canada. Kenya, for instance, is developing wind power stations and reforesting arid land.

Howlett suggested that the Danish proposal ignores developing countries' own initiatives and gives developed countries an unfair advantage.

“This funding should not be aid: it should be funding that is generated by either carbon taxes or cap-and-trade or other mechanisms. And it's a win-win: that's one of the most effective ways to reduce emissions in the North ... and it can generate the funds necessary for investment in clean energy strategies and in adaptation.”

NTV Kenya has shared a video of protests in response to the Danish text.

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