Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Developing nations in South Asia and Africa including India may face greater threats from heat- trapping pollution if nations fail to reach a new climate agreement at Copenhagen, a United Nations official said.

“The unfortunate coincidence is that developing countries are located in the tropical belt and are more vulnerable to the impact of climate change,” said Marcel Alers, a climate change mitigation adviser to the United Nations Development Program.

South Asia and Africa may be “hit first and hit harder” because they have fewer resources than developed nations to meet the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions such as floods, droughts and water shortages, Alers said in an interview at the Carbon Asia Forum in Singapore yesterday.

India requires $5 billion a year between 2012 and 2017, in addition to its current investment plans, to support a transition to low-carbon energy generation, the United Nations Development Program said in its Human Development Report, citing research by the Energy and Resources Institute.

Asia’s third-biggest economy is the world’s fourth-largest emitter of carbon dioxide while China is the world’s biggest emitter, according to the UN agency. Between 1990 and 2004, emissions climbed 97 percent, one of the fastest pace of gains in the world, it said.

The increase in temperatures may lead to an accelerated meltdown of ice caps, threatening supplies of drinking water to China and India, Alers said.

“Of particular concern is the Himalayas as it’s the water table for China and India,” he said. “The sources of drinking water for billions are at risk.”

The Himalayan mountains are the source of India’s Ganges river, China’s Yangtze River, Nepal’s Karnali and Pakistan’s Indus. Melting glaciers will reduce the flow of water to these waterways, threatening health, agriculture production and power projects, and leading to food and water shortages.

India and China account for more than 40 percent of the world population.

Global consensus needs to be reached by next year as the emission-limiting Kyoto treaty expires in 2012.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dinakar Sethuraman in Singapore at dinakar@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 27, 2009 05:56 EDT