Connie Hedegaard said: "The Warsaw climate conference showed how challenging the way to an ambitious result in Paris will be. But the last hours also showed that we are capable of moving forward. The EU wanted the stepwise approach that is now agreed as the way forward: all countries must contribute to the future reduction efforts, and already now all countries must go home and do their homework in order to table their contributions well in advance of the Paris conference, and by the first quarter of 2015 by those ready to do so."

She added: "For sure there will be faster and less bumpy ways to Paris but now the journey has started. We must make it there. And congratulations to the most vulnerable countries, as Warsaw agreed to establish a mechanism to promote approaches to address loss and damage caused by climate change in vulnerable developing countries."

The conference agreed a timeplan for countries to table their contributions to reducing or limiting greenhouse gas emissions under a new global climate agreement to be adopted in 2015. It also agreed ways to accelerate efforts to deepen emission cuts over the rest of this decade, and to set up a mechanism to address losses and damage caused by climate change in vulnerable developing countries.

In addition, the conference agreed decisions which enhance the implementation of a range of measures already agreed at international level, including finance to support developing countries, combatting tropical deforestation, and transparency of reporting on emissions.

Read more:

• MEMO/13/1044: EU welcomes progress on international climate action at Warsaw conference