Developing countries are urging changes to a deal drawn up by the US and the EU at the UN climate change conference.

The draft agreement emerged late on Friday, after two weeks of negotiations in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires.

It provides for informal talks to be held in May on ways of tackling global warming in the longer term.

But at the final session on Saturday, emerging countries demanded a written guarantee that they would not be subjected to greenhouse gas curbs.

The BBC's Liz Blunt at the conference says Saturday began with smiles of relief, as delegates emerged with what appeared to be a consensus text.

The EU and the US - which had clashed over a proposal for future informal seminars - had managed to bury their differences.

But it is now clear that they did not manage to carry developing countries along with them, our correspondent adds.

Give and take

India - supported by China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia - called for an amendment to the deal.

The EU opposed this, saying the outcome of future talks should not be prejudiced.

The draft agreement came after days of wrangling between Brussels and Washington that extended the Buenos Aires meeting well past its scheduled close.

The EU had insisted on a series of informal meetings on emission cuts when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

In the end the US won its demand for one meeting, next May, but agreed it would be held over several days.

The meeting will "promote an informal exchange of information" on cutting harmful emissions and adapting to climate change, according to the draft text.

The US - which pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol in 2001 - had until then resisted any talk about longer-term action beyond 2012.

"It is a give-and-take exercise and I think on balance we are very pleased with the outcome," said US lead negotiator Harlan Watson.

Survival

EU negotiator Yvo de Boer said the deal contained pretty much something for everyone.

Kyoto commits signatories to trim output of six greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, by at least 5.2% by 2012, compared with 1990 levels.

The Europeans have been seeking to involve the US and major emerging economies, such as China and India, in a post-Kyoto agreement on further emission reductions.

The objections to the draft deal are not shared by all developing countries.

South Africa and a number of smaller island states supported the EU's position on Saturday.

Island states threatened by rising sea levels are particularly keen to tackle global warming.

Martin Puta Tofinga, environment minister for the Pacific archipelago of Kiribati, said: "I am talking about survival here, we need to move forward in a meaningful way."

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