Poverty, the degradation of natural resources and lack of planning for land use will make Latin America more vulnerable and unable to adapt to such phenomena, said the report released here by the UN Environment Programme.

UNEP released the report to mark the launch of the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty aimed at slowing global warming.

Under the protocol, 34 developed countries are obliged to cut significantly their production of greenhouse gases, which are blamed for the warming trend in the Earth's climate.

According to the report, Latin America and the Caribbean generate eight to nine percent of the world's production of greenhouse gases, most of it from Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela and Argentina.

The report connected a large part of greenhouse gas emissions to deforestation and slash-and-burn cultivation.

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