London, Dec 21 (IANS) Britain’s minister for climate change Monday claimed China “hijacked” the UN climate summit and blamed it for a poor outcome.
“We did not get an agreement on 50 percent reductions in global emissions by 2050 and 80 percent by developed countries. Both were vetoed by China, despite the support of a coalition of developed and the majority of developing countries,” Ed Miliband wrote in the Guardian.

He added: “The last two weeks at times have presented a farcical picture to the public. We cannot again allow negotiations on real points of substance to be hijacked in this way.”

Miliband said Britain will make clear to those countries holding out against a binding legal treaty that “we will not allow them to block global progress”.

Miliband also called for “major reform” of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and on the way negotiations are conducted.

Although Miliband only mentioned China, British officials made it clear that his remarks included Sudan, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba - other countries that tried to resist a deal being signed.

Miliband said an agreement to fund climate change measures to the tune of $10 billion, rising to $100 billion by 2020, marked an “unprecedented commitment among rich nations”.

However, China denied accusations that it wrecked an ambitious agreement, and diplomats and environment groups hit back saying Britain and other rich countries had imposed the terms on the world’s poor “at the peril of the millions of common masses”.