Meles Zenawi, in August was named climate spokesman for Africa, the continent that scientists say is most vulnerable to global warming.    

Envoys for the December 7-18 Copenhagen meeting were given a taste of Meles’s clout at climate talks in Barcelona last week when African delegates staged a one-day walkout to demand the developed world cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 40 percent.

Meles has threatened a similar exodus at Copenhagen, which could derail an agreement as he will represent 52 of the 190 nations present when unanimity is always sought on global UN accords.

Meles is a serious negotiator, said David Shinn, former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia from 1996-1999. “The guy is very smart, he doesn’t wing this stuff,” Shinn said in an interview.

Meles demands industrialized countries such as the U.S. and Britain that released most of the historical emissions to compensate developing nations for climate damage they caused in recent decades.

He also seeks subsidies to install clean-energy equipment. The cost to richer nations: 67 billion USD a year.

Meles may be the “ideal” climate negotiator for the continent, Rhoda Tumusiime, the African Union’s agriculture commissioner, said from Uganda, citing his knowledge of the issues and dealings with the U.S., Europe and China.

  “We believe he has the charisma to engage with these global powers,” Tumusiime said.     

Meles promoted the climate-change issue during an African Union summit in February in which he warned leaders that global warming could increase the number of failed states in Africa.

“The fate of countries and continents is likely to be determined by how well and how fast they adjust,” he said.

Meles was chosen to represent Africa at the G-8 summit in Italy in July and the G-20 summit in London in April.