The international community gears up to negotiate the next global treaty on climate change this December in Copenhagen, Denmark, and one of the top issues on the agenda is determining what role developing countries should play.

These countries have contributed the least to climate change but stand to suffer the most from changing weather patterns, according to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an international group of scientists. With little money in their coffers to make changes anyway, some of these countries want monetary commitments from rich countries before they agree to reduce emissions.

At the same time, a few emerging economies, like China and India, have increased emissions dramatically in the past few years as their economies have boomed. China now leads the world in total carbon emissions.

As the U.S. Congress debates using taxpayer funds for cutting emissions abroad, lawmakers are weighing criticism of other governments' policies with the need to secure -- and possibly fund -- a commitment from these countries to cut back on greenhouse-gas emissions.

"China has already resisted World Trade Organization rules," Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said Wednesday at a hearing in the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. "Can we expect China's compliance with a climate-change treaty given its history with the WTO? I think the answer is obvious."

Not to everyone, including Barbara Finamore, China program director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental organization.

"I think there's a big difference between the WTO and climate-change agreements," Finamore said at Wednesday's hearing. China "believes improving their energy efficiency is going to increase their global competitiveness."

Not only that, but China has become increasingly aware of the impacts climate change will have on its people and economy, which means it's in the country's interest to try to mitigate the problem, Finamore said.

A recent study conducted by the Chinese government showed climate change could further strain its already low water supplies by causing floods and droughts. As a result, China is taking action and plans to cut emissions by 4 percent per year and increase renewable-power generation to 10 percent of electricity used in the country by 2010.

"If it succeeds, China will avoid emitting 1.5 billion tons of CO2, the largest single greenhouse-gas mitigation program of any country," Finamore said.

China's plans characterize those in other developing countries, many of whom aren't waiting for rich nations to lead anymore, said Carter Roberts, chief executive of the World Wildlife Fund, a conservation organization.

"The risks they are facing are greater than ours," Roberts told representatives. They have "billions of people that live below the poverty line, and they lack the capital to adapt. … Wait-and-see is not an option."

A recent report from HSBC Bank in London found that while the United States' economic-stimulus plan directed only 12 percent of funds to low-carbon initiatives, the Chinese equivalent devoted 38 percent, Roberts said. Many developing countries, including Brazil, Mexico and the Philippines, have also passed legal requirements to produce a specific percentage of electricity from renewable sources -- a proposal the U.S. Congress has rejected multiple times.

In December Brazil announced a 10-year plan to cut by 70 percent its emissions from deforestation, a major source of carbon dioxide.

"Meeting these goals will be tough," Roberts said. "Brazil is committed to it, but they can't do it alone."

That's exactly the problem with many of the goals developing countries have set, said Lee Lane, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a non-profit research organization. Just because a developing country says it's willing to cut emissions doesn't mean it will actually lay down the money to do so, Lane said.

"There is a distinct lack of consensus about who should pay to reduce these emissions," Lane said.

And if the United States and other developed nations have to bear the full brunt of the economic burden, it could be extremely costly, according to a recent study. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology projected the effort could cost as much as $200 billion by 2020 and $1 trillion by 2050 for the United States alone.

"We don't have infinite resources to help the world change from fossil fuels to renewable energy, energy efficiency, etc.," Lane said.

However, big changes can be made with small investments, said Ned Helme, president of the Center for Clean Air Policy, an organization that works on climate policy.

"We're not talking about buckets of money," Helme said. "This is simple loans to get them over the top."

Such loans could be helpful in places like Mexico, where the government recently proposed cutting emissions in the cement, steel, oil-refinery and electricity sectors, Helme said. However, a recent upsurge in drug-related violence is draining the government's resources. Just a little boost from its northern neighbor could yield big benefits, Helme said.

In addition, most of the developing world emits negligible amounts of greenhouse gases and doesn't need major aid to retool its industrial and transportation sectors, Helme said.

"Focus on the six to 10 major emitters in the developing world," he said. "They're responsible for 80 to 90 percent of emissions in the developing world."

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