Africa will demand 50 billion U. S. dollars as compensation for carbon emission from developed countries at the ongoing climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, sources have said.

The sources said on Tuesday in Abuja that Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi would present the position on Dec. 18.

"Africa is the worst hit when it comes to global emission. We are going to Copenhagen with one voice; our position is that the developed countries should pay us 50 billion dollars in the short term," the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the sources as saying.

"Our requisition also is that in 2015, the compensation should be increased to 250 billion dollars," one of the sources added.

They pointed out that Africa, which generated only 4 percent of the global carbon emission, was the hardest hit, and that is why the issue of compensation is justified.

They disclosed that the decision to ask for compensation was part of the recommendations made by the AU Presidential Committee of 10, including Nigeria.

According to the sources, the major challenges facing the continent included the adaptation and mitigation of the effects of climate change.

"Apart from funding, we are also seeking for technology transfer to enable us change from our obsolete technology," another source said.

Justifying Africa's position, the source said the continent had suffered devastation in the past decades, adding that climate change would further compound the situation.

"Take Nigeria for instance, which has nearly 150 million people majority of who depend on agriculture; the direct negative impact of climate change will further worsen the poverty situation in the country," the source said.

"Once agriculture is affected, poverty will be intensified," he added.

Scientists have described the Copenhagen conference as the current most important event in the world.

Nearly 15,000 delegates and 100 world leaders are expected at the summit, which started on Monday, over the next two weeks.

The meeting is expected to come up with a deal that will supplant the Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1997, which sought to help developing countries deal with the negative effects of climate change.

A delegation of 251 Nigerians, including journalists, is attending the summit.