By Jean-Pierre Afadhali for The East African.

Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia have joined a new group of 20 developing countries that hope to press for tougher action to curb global warming, ahead of the United Nations climate talks in Paris this December.

The group, dubbed Vulnerable 20 (V20), and formed by the members’ respective finance ministers says it represents countries that are at high risk of suffering the effects of climate change.

“This is not a typical group of major economies. Instead we represent countries that are at high risk due to economic failures to address climate change,” said Jose Francisco Pacheco, Vice Minister of Finance of Costa Rica.