For Latin Americans, tackling climate change often boils down to an economic problem rather than an environmental one: Who is going to pay?

With the region contributing relatively little to climate change - it accounts for around 10 percent of all global carbon emissions, far below other developing regions like Asia - there is a consensus among Latin American leaders that industrialised nations should foot the bill in mitigating the effects of global warming and lead by example in significantly reducing their carbon emissions.

Or as Brazilian President Luiz Incio "Lula" da Silva bluntly put it during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, "we are dismayed by the reluctance of the developed countries to shoulder their share of the burden when it comes to fighting climate change. They cannot burden developing countries with tasks which are theirs alone."

At the Copenhagen summit on climate change in December, Latin American governments will be expected to call on industrialised nations to pledge significantly more funds to land conservation and reforestation projects, renewable energies and to provide them with the technology to tackle climate change.

Much is at stake for Latin America if its leaders fail to secure more funding to tackle climate change.

Global warming already poses a serious threat to lives and livelihoods in Latin America and the region as extreme weather attributed to global warming becomes more common. Since the 1990s, Honduras, Mexico, Cuba and Haiti have been battered by more frequent and intense hurricanes, with flooding killing thousands of people.

Over the next 50 years, rising sea levels are expected to affect 60 of Latin America's 77 largest cities.

Other climate change hotspots include the Andes mountains and Chile and Argentina where glaciers are in rapid retreat, putting the water supply of millions at risk.

Six countries in Latin America account for 85 per cent of the region's emissions, with Brazil and Mexico producing half of Latin America's greenhouse gases. Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela are the region's other big emitters.

As the region's largest economies and carbon emitters, Mexico and Brazil know that they must play an active role in adapting to the effects of climate change and are increasingly prepared to take bold steps to curb emissions. They lead Latin America's efforts to tackle climate change and are expected to champion the funding concerns of developing nations at the Copenhagen summit.

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