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To rapturous applause, they signed up to the first truly global climate change agreement under the umbrella of the United Nations, following all-night talks in Cancun.

The negotiations, at a luxury resort in Mexico, repeatedly came close to collapsing as different countries tabled objections. Eventually only Bolivia refused to accept the deal, on the grounds that it would not be enough to end global warming, which it described as “tantamount to genocide”.

But as exhausted delegates became increasingly impatient, the protests of the radical South American country were swept aside. Apparently losing her temper, Patricia Espinosa, the Mexican Foreign Secretary who presided over the talks, gavelled through the agreement in the early hours of the morning.

Her action was greeted with a standing ovation as relief swept through the conference hall after two weeks of tense negotiating. The Indian environment minister described her as “a goddess” for her achievement.

The UN has been attempting to achieve a deal on climate change for more than 15 years but found it impossible to get all members to agree. Last year in Copenhagen the talks came close to collapse, embarrassing world leaders who had jetted in to “save the planet”. This time expectations were kept deliberately low for fear of killing off the UN process completely.

However the Mexican presidency managed to keep the process alive by making great efforts to include poor countries and by holding open meetings.

The deal falls far short of what some scientists and environmentalist claim is needed to stop catastrophic global warming. But it represents a significant step towards the eventual goal of many, which is a legally binding treaty aimed at preventing temperatures rising more than 2C (3.6F) this century.

For the first time all countries are committed to cutting carbon emissions under an official UN agreement. Rich nations also have to pay a total of

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Tags: Carbon Emissions, Carbon Market, climate change, Emissions Reductions