African nations met in Algiers Wednesday to agree a common position on climate change ahead of the next major international conference on the subject set to take place in December 2009.

Environment ministers from some 40 countries participated in the `African Conference on Climate after 2012,` when the Kyoto environment treaty expires.

The UN`s next Climate Change Conference to is to be held in Copenhagen at the end of next year, with the aim of agreeing on a successor to Kyoto.

Algerian Environment Minister Cherif Rahmani said the conference gave an opportunity for Africa to find `a common position` on green issues and negotiate from a strong position` in Copenhagen, adding that the continent had been marginalised at previous events in Kyoto and Bali.

Yvo De Boer, executive secretary of the UN Convention on Climate Change, said the African plan would be a `key contribution` to the negotiations.

`Africa is the continent hardest hit by climate changes (and) it is also the continent that has benefitted the least from the current negotiations on climate changes,` he told the conference.

Some experts say the carbon credits trading scheme set up after Kyoto does not benefit Africa. The scheme, known as the Clean Development Mechanism, allows businesses in developed countries to offset their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by investing in a `green` projects in the developing countries, such as renewable energy schemes or reforestation.

But critics say this is unfair as Africa only produces two percent of the world`s CO2, compared to 45 percent produced by China.