Cancún's climate conference was largely a diplomatic triumph. No
nations promised to up their emissions reduction targets from
those pledged in Copenhagen. The compromise text that the
delegates applauded was only work in progress, full of pledges
to settle differences later – differences like the fate of the
Kyoto protocol, legally binding emissions targets and the role
of carbon markets. The firmest commitment was to meet again next
year in Durban, South Africa. And yet behind the scenes, at side
events across Cancún, the architecture of a remarkable new low-
carbon world was on display - a world with ambition as great in
developing nations as in the rich world. Dozens of nations –
rich and poor, forested and industrialised – came to Cancún
having put flesh on promises made in Copenhagen, many of which
were unilateral and do not depend on a UN agreement at all. If
the talks ultimately founder in Durban or later, that momentum
might just save the world without the leadership of the UN or
the authority of a UN