Benn hails historic climate agenda

Following tense talks, ministers from around 180 countries meeting in Bali agreed the agenda for a global emissions cuts agreement to launch negotiations for a post-2012 agreement to tackle climate change.

Agreement for the road map followed a dramatic U-turn by the US, which had threatened to block the deal at the 11th hour and been booed by other countries. But the US dropped its opposition to poorer countries' calls for technological and financial help to combat the issue.

While it will be two years before a final deal on post-2012 is likely to be struck, countries have been fighting for the kind of things they want to see on the table for those talks.

Mr Benn said: "This is an historic breakthrough and a huge step forward. For the first time ever all the world's nations have agreed to negotiate on a deal to tackle dangerous climate change concluding in 2009."

He said it was the compelling clarity of the science and the strength of the case for urgent action that has made this agreement possible. But it was political leadership that made it happen, Mr Benn added.

He continued: "Our changing climate has changed our politics, because we knew that we could not let people down. We came here saying we wanted a road map that included every country and covered emission reductions from developed countries and fair and equitable contributions from developing countries.

"We leave here with all of this and more - a groundbreaking agreement on deforestation, and others on adaptation and technology.

"And against predictions these negotiations will be guided by ambitious goals for emission reductions. What we have achieved here has never been done before.

"Less than a year ago, many would have said this agreement was impossible. Now we must make it work, and in the next two years agree the detail of a comprehensive global climate deal that will take us beyond 2012."