British researchers said the 12-day U.N. climate change summit in Denmark will generate as much greenhouse gas as an African nation.

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U.N. officials conceded the Copenhagen summit, which began Monday, will generate at least 41,000 tons of carbon dioxide, more than the average created by Malawi, Afghanistan or Sierra Leone during the same time period, the Daily Mail reported Monday.

Britain's Taxpayers' Alliance also criticized the conference for its estimated $214 million price tag.

"The politicians and bureaucrats going to Copenhagen seem to think it's unlikely that they'll reach a deal and they know that even if they can get something signed, an increasingly skeptical public aren't going to accept ever more expensive climate change policies," said Matthew Sinclair, research director at the Taxpayer's Alliance. "This means that a huge amount of money is going to be spent on the summit, and thousands of tons of carbon dioxide emitted to get there, just to give the delegates a good photo opportunity."

The summit is aimed at curbing climate change through reducing global greenhouse gas emissions from farming, manufacturing and transportation.