UN welcomes climate summit deal

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed a US-backed climate deal in Copenhagen as an "essential beginning". He was speaking after delegates passed a motion recognising the agreement, which the US reached with key nations including China and Brazil. UN welcomes climate summit deal But Mr Ban said the agreement must be made legally binding next year. Earlier, the meeting failed to secure unanimous support, amid opposition from some developing nations. Several South American countries, such as Nicaragua and Venezuela, were among a group saying the agreement had not been reached through proper process. "The conference decides to take note of the Copenhagen Accord of December 18, 2009," the chairman of the plenary session of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) declared on Saturday morning, swiftly banging down his gavel. Ban told journalists: "Finally, we sealed the deal." "It may not be everything we hoped for, but this decision of the Conference of Parties is an essential beginning." But the UN Secretary General also said: "We must transform this into a legally binding treaty next year. "The importance will only be recognised when it's codified into international law." Delegates at the climate summit had been battling through the night to prevent the talks ending without reaching a final deal. The Copenhagen Accord is based on a proposal tabled on Friday by a U.S.-led group of five nations - including China, India, Brazil and South Africa - that President Barack Obama called a "meaningful agreement". The accord includes a recognition to limit temperature rises to less than 2 Celsius and promises to deliver USD 30bn of aid for developing nations over the next three years. It outlines a goal of providing USD 100bn a year by 2020 to help poor countries cope with the impacts of climate change. The agreement also includes a method for verifying industrialised nations' reduction of emissions. The U.S. had insisted that China dropped its resistance to this measure. Earlier, the proposal had been rejected by a few developing nations which felt that it failed to deliver the actions needed to halt dangerous climate change. The main opposition to the five-nation accord had come from the ALBA bloc of Latin American countries to which Nicaragua and Venezuela belong, along with Cuba, Ecuador and Bolivia. Venezuelan delegate Claudia Salerno Caldera said before the motion was passed: "Mr President, I ask whether - under the eye of the UN secretary general - you are going to endorse this coup d'etat against the authority of the United Nations." Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, the Sudanese negotiator, had said the draft text asked "Africa to sign a suicide pact". During the two-week gathering, small island nations and vulnerable coastal countries had been calling for a binding agreement that would limit emissions to a level that would prevent temperatures rising more than 1.5 Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

UN welcomes climate summit deal

But Mr Ban said the agreement must be made legally binding next year.

Earlier, the meeting failed to secure unanimous support, amid opposition from some developing nations.

Several South American countries, such as Nicaragua and Venezuela, were among a group saying the agreement had not been reached through proper process.

"The conference decides to take note of the Copenhagen Accord of December 18, 2009," the chairman of the plenary session of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) declared on Saturday morning, swiftly banging down his gavel.

Ban told journalists: "Finally, we sealed the deal."

"It may not be everything we hoped for, but this decision of the Conference of Parties is an essential beginning."

But the UN Secretary General also said: "We must transform this into a legally binding treaty next year.

"The importance will only be recognised when it's codified into international law."

Delegates at the climate summit had been battling through the night to prevent the talks ending without reaching a final deal.

The Copenhagen Accord is based on a proposal tabled on Friday by a U.S.-led group of five nations - including China, India, Brazil and South Africa - that President Barack Obama called a "meaningful agreement".

The accord includes a recognition to limit temperature rises to less than 2 Celsius and promises to deliver USD 30bn of aid for developing nations over the next three years.

It outlines a goal of providing USD 100bn a year by 2020 to help poor countries cope with the impacts of climate change.

The agreement also includes a method for verifying industrialised nations' reduction of emissions. The U.S. had insisted that China dropped its resistance to this measure.

Earlier, the proposal had been rejected by a few developing nations which felt that it failed to deliver the actions needed to halt dangerous climate change.

The main opposition to the five-nation accord had come from the ALBA bloc of Latin American countries to which Nicaragua and Venezuela belong, along with Cuba, Ecuador and Bolivia.

Venezuelan delegate Claudia Salerno Caldera said before the motion was passed: "Mr President, I ask whether - under the eye of the UN secretary general - you are going to endorse this coup d'etat against the authority of the United Nations."

Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, the Sudanese negotiator, had said the draft text asked "Africa to sign a suicide pact".

During the two-week gathering, small island nations and vulnerable coastal countries had been calling for a binding agreement that would limit emissions to a level that would prevent temperatures rising more than 1.5 Celsius above pre-industrial levels.