LONDON, May 29: Peru’s glaciers are melting. High in the Andes freak hail storms and cold snaps are freezing llamas to death.

In the north of Kenya unprecedented droughts have driven herdsmen into deadly battles for the remaining water holes.

In the mountains of Tajikistan, near the border with Afghanistan, flooding and landslides are washing away the crops.

Across the developing world, man-made climate change is an indisputable reality and it is already hitting hardest against the poorest nations.

Historically the warming of the atmosphere has been the product of CO2 emissions from industrialised nations, but as scientists now agree that global warming is upon us, the countries that have polluted the least are already the most hard hit.

In addition to immediate steps to reduce the harmful greenhouse gas emissions, (pounds sterling)5bn is needed annually to help developing countries meet the immense costs of adapting to climate change that they have done least to bring about, according to a report released today by global charity Oxfam.

“Developing countries cannot and should not be expected to foot the bill for the impact of rich countries’ emissions,” said Ms Kate Raworth, Oxfam Senior Researcher.

n The Independent