Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said African countries are, compared to developed nations, less responsible for emissions of greenhouses gases that cause climate change.
El-Sisi also called for larger funding to African nations to combat the effects of climate change.
"All African nations are contributing less to the total harmful emissions and are the most affected by climate change," El-Sisi told global leaders gathering Monday for a United Nations climate summit in Paris.
"Africa demands an international, just, and clear agreement that considers disparity of burdens between developed and developing countries," El-Sisi said.
He called for "bolstering the ability of developing countries to cope with climate change," while urging a funding of $100 million yearly by 2020 to developing countries to fend off the phenomenon.
El-Sisi, who heads heads a UN climate change committee of African leaders, cited a UN environmental report putting the financial gap in funding to Africa at $12 million a year by 2020--a gap that is expected to widen.
Some 150 heads of state, including US President Barack Obama and Russia's Vladimir Putin, gathered on Monday for two weeks of climate change talks aimed at forging an elusive pact to combat global warming.
Most scientists say failure to take action would doom the world to hotter temperatures, and calamitous events such as droughts and rising sea levels that will wipe out low-lying regions.
