After gruelling negotiations in the South African city last week, world governments have come to an agreement on climate change.
Climate negotiators agreed to extend the Kyoto Protocol until the end of 2017 and set up a fund to help developing countries address the impact of climate change.
Under the terms of the “Durban road map”, countries will begin talks on a new legally binding agreement on greenhouse gas cuts next year, that is expected to come into force in 2020.
With the US, India and China all on board, the package means that for the first time all the world’s biggest polluters are committed to cutting their carbon emissions.
The deal, which stemmed from an EU proposal, was hailed by Energy and Climate Secretary Chris Huhne as “a great success for European diplomacy”, Reuters news agency reports.
It is likely to be welcomed by Christian Aid, which called upon the EU to take a lead during the UN summit.
The Kyoto Protocol, which legally binds countries into cutting carbon emissions, was due to expire at the end of 2012 leading to fears of a lapse in commitment.
World governments have spent years trying to reach agreement on a new package of legally-binding cuts.
After the failure of leaders to reach a deal in Copenhagen in 2009, Huhne said the road map was a “huge step forward”.
Christian Aid is among the campaign groups warning of severe consequences for the Earth if world leaders delay a agreement on carbon emission cuts deemed necessary by scientists to keep the average rise in global temperatures to within 2 degrees Celsius.
Speaking at the start of the talks, Christian Aid’s climate expert Mohamed Adow, said: “We want to leave Durban with a deal which is a strong response to the climate chaos which is hurtling towards us – and which is already having devastating effects on poor people.
“Governments need to agree how to respond to the latest climate science, which shows that without deep emissions cuts now, dangerous global warming will occur.
“It will cause human suffering on a terrifying scale.”