Ministers gather in a huddle where agreement was reached to extend the Kyoto Protocol during a plenary session at COP17 in Durban on Dec. 11, 2011.REUTERS
Ministers gather in a huddle where agreement was reached to extend the Kyoto Protocol during a plenary session at COP17 in Durban on Dec. 11, 2011.REUTERSBusi Ndlovu, a member of the aid group OXFAM, stages a protest against the use of coal-based energy on Durban's beachfront.REUTERSU.N. security personel form a cordon as protesting environmental activists attempt to gain access to the plenary session of the Durban Climate Change Conference.REUTERSU.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon addresses media at the U.N. Climate Change conference in Durban.REUTERSGreenpeace activists hold a mock party opposite the venue where the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP17) was held, in Durban.REUTERSBritain's Secretary of State of Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne, speaks at a plenary session in Durban.REUTERSU.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres addresses environmental activists outside the conference venue in Durban.REUTERSUNFCCC Secretary Christiana Figueres listens to speakers at the opening plenary session of COP17 in Durban.REUTERSEnvironmental activists promoting the use of solar and wind energy engage with locals on the Durban beachfront.REUTERSEnvironmental activists demonstrate outside the U.N. Climate Change conference (COP17) in Durban.REUTERS
Delegates from nearly 200 countries gathered to discuss climate change matters and to come to a conclusion on a legally binding global agreement to reduce carbon emissions.
After much speculation from environmentalists, who expected little progress to come out of the Durban summit, officials managed to come to an agreement in the early hours of Sunday morning - a day and a half later than talks were scheduled to finish.
Following a marathon series of talks from Friday night onwards, officials huddled for hours before coming to an agreement to push for a new climate treaty.
The treaty will be negotiated by 2015 and be enforced from 2020.
The deal also makes progress towards addressing the "emissions gap" between the voluntary emissions cuts countries have already promised and the reductions environment experts say are required to tackle climate change seriously.
For an overview of the two-week climate change conference in Durban, click 'start' to begin the photo slideshow.
