(GIN) – South Africa and Nigeria are the worst greenhouse gas emitters in Africa, according to climate experts attending the U.N. conference on climate change this week in Accra, Ghana.
 
But agreement among the experts ends there. Western countries have been holding African nations to emission standards of the developed world and propose solutions that include the sell-off of African forests in a carbon trading scheme.
 
"The inclusion of forests in carbon markets enables developed countries to avoid real carbon emissions reductions at home," said Friends of the Earth, a green lobby group.
 
"Our emissions are infinitesimal compared to those in developed countries," noted Ewah Otu Eleri, head of the Nigeria-based International Centre for Energy, Environment and Development.
 
More than 1600 participants, including government delegates from 160 countries and representatives from business and industry, environmental organizations and research institutions are attending the one-week meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
 
Meanwhile, in Abuja, Nigeria, UN officials, African and other delegates are attending a three day conference on racism, racial discriminatino, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance.
 
A major global conference on racism and related issues takes place next April in Geneva to review the landmark 2001 conference held in Durban, South Africa, where a Declaration and Plan of Action were adopted.