APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Ethiopian Prime Minister,Meles Zenawi, who led the African negotiating team to the Copenhagen world climate conference said on Sunday on returning home that the conference was a success for the continent.

Meles said during an interview with the Ethiopian Television (ETV) that Africa has been the biggest beneficiary from the Copenhagen Global Climate deal among other parties that took part in the negotiation, which ended late on Friday.

“Africa got significant amount of financial support from the developed nations to cope with the impact of climate change as they are amidst global financical crisis,” said Meles.

According to him, Africa, which is facing a serious climate change impact, will start to get the $10 billion aid from the developed countries as of 2010, which is a start up donation for the coming three years.

According to the deal, the developed countries agreed to make available $10 billion by 2010 and $50 billion by 2013 to support the developing countries to tackle the impact of climate change.

"We have only a few weeks between now and Copenhagen... the indications that we get are not very encouraging," Meles said after a meeting of an African Union panel set up to represent the continent at the December 7-18 gathering.

"Indeed we have prioritised our requirements. First and foremost we need to make sure that global warming does not go beyond two degrees and that carbon emissions peak by at the latest 2020," he added.

The United Nations summit in Denmark will try to agree on how to counter climate change and come up with a post-Kyoto treaty protocol to curb harmful emissions.

A Race Against Climate Change in Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- The city of Assela, located 175 kilometers southeast of Addis Ababa, lies at the heart of what is great about Ethiopia. It is home to some of the country’s most productive and fertile lands which account for a lion’s share of the country’s beer, tella (an alcoholic local drink brewed from wheat), and bread wheat. 

The city is also the capital of the Arsi zone, which has produced the country’s top distance runners and continues to carve out a reputation as its breadbasket of running. After producing marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie and two-time Olympic 10,000m champion Derartu Tulu in the 1990’s, the region’s unending production line churned out the Bekele brothers (Kenenisa and Tariku), the Dibaba sisters (Tirunesh, Ejegayehou, and Genzebe), and many others.