Saturday, 15 December, 8:00 p.m. — So what has Bali actually accomplished? For Yvo de Boer, who heads the Climate Change Convention and who has worked to move the Bali agenda forward, the Conference delivered what was promised. "Launch, Agenda, End date," he says, was his mantra for months. "Bali delivered what it needed to deliver."

He calls the resulting decisions "ambitious, transparent and flexible." It references the science of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it helps bring in partners from business, finance and the United Nations system, and, he add, breaks down the "Berlin Wall" of climate change — the strict method of separation of action between developed and developing countries. "This is an incredibly exciting agenda."

How did it happen? The delays of the morning that followed the distribution of a new text made it seem that agreement was still very far away. But de Boer credits the visit of the Indonesian President and the UN Secretary-General with shaking this up. "The mood in the room suddenly exploded" when they walked in the room and received standing ovations. "They refocused the delegates" on the urgency of the big picture.

Did he ever have doubts? When he looked at the stack of decisions that still needed to be acted upon, de Boer says he asked himself, "Are we really going to make it?"

Saturday, 15 December, 7:30 p.m. — In addition to the Bali Roadmap, or part of the Bali Roadmap as some say, Bali also delivered a number of agreements beyond launching a process toward a future climate change deal.

Bali also saw an agreement that will allow the Adaptation Fund to fund projects in developing countries that will help people cope with the impacts of climate change over the next four years. The Fund, currently worth over $30 million and which is expected to grow to an estimated $80-$300 million by 2012, will get its resources from a two per cent levy on all transactions of the Clean Development Mechanism.

The Bali Conference also agreed on a new programme to scale up investment for the transfer of clean technologies to developing countries. It was widely agreed in Bali that for poorer countries to avoid the same development mistakes of industrialized countries, they would need newer and cleaner technologies.

Deforestation, which causes 20 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions, also figured on the agenda in a major way for the first time in climate change discussions. Countries agreed on a range of measures to study and assess the issue — including finding out just how to calculate emissions from deforestation, as well as encouraging demonstration projects that can address the needs of local and indigenous communities.

Saturday, 15 December, 6:30 p.m. — Even after the main show was over earlier in the afternoon, countries still had to adopt a number of decisions. And then there were statements of appreciation. It was 6:23pm when Conference President Rachmat Witoelar gaveled the whole meeting over, to the delight and relief of the remaining delegates and NGOs.

Saturday, 15 December, 5:30 p.m. — One last NGO stunt, by the group AWAAZ. On this last day, even though a significant part of the press was already gone, the group hoisted a huge banner demanding climate change targets.

Saturday, 15 December, 3:00 p.m.

Agreement Reached on the Bali Roadmap

It was one day late but countries achieved a major breakthrough on international climate change action at 2:31pm Bali time on Saturday. It was not without high drama featuring plenty of twists and turns along the way on a day when many delegates had planned to catch flights home.

It even took the special intervention of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yodhoyono and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to exhort delegates to complete what seemed like hopelessly deadlocked talks.

Yodhoyono called on countries to complete "the most difficult mile," of an "exhaustive marathon." He told delegates that we could not allow "the human race and the planet to crumble because we cannot find the right words."

The Secretary-General, who returned to Bali after a visit to Timor-Leste, said he was reluctant to speak again to the conference but that he was disappointed in the progress that had been made. "The hour is late. It is time to make a decision." He appealed to delegates not to "risk everything you have achieved so far."

After a morning of false starts and false hopes, miscommunications and misunderstandings, countries agreed on a roadmap to launch negotiations toward a global, comprehensive agreement to address climate change. The Bali decision sets out an agenda that frames the discussions that will take place over the next two years and sets a deadline of 2009 to complete the negotiations.

After agreement was reached, the Secretary-General issued a statement strongly welcoming the outcome and saying that the Bali Roadmap achieved all three of the main objectives. "The Bali Roadmap that has been agreed is a pivotal first step toward an agreement that can address the threat of climate change, the defining challenge of our time."

But the agreement did not come painlessly. On a key provision, concerning the obligations of developing countries in the future negotiations, India, speaking for developing countries, said that alternate wording had been agreed to during the night. And then Bangladesh said that language concerning the least developed countries and small island states had been omitted. The Philippines said the phrase "on the basis of equity" had been omitted. And then the United States said it could not accept the formulation that was put forward but offered to keep working until an agreement could be found.

Then South Africa, responding to the US, said developing countries had voluntarily moved to accept new obligations for their national actions on climate change that were "measurable, reportable and verifiable," a concession that only a year ago, he said, "would have been unthinkable." South Africa asked the US to reconsider its position.

Then an avalanche of countries took the floor in support of the developing country position, many asking the US to state their reservations separately and not block a consensus.

US Under Secretary of State Paula Dobriansky took the floor again and said the US wanted a roadmap and wanted to be part of the roadmap.

"We are very committed to long-term greenhouse gas emission reductions," and she said the US would work with other large emitters to halve global emissions by 2050. And then she said the US "will go forward and join the consensus," which was followed by a thunderous ovation.

"It feels like we are in a movie with lots of plots," said the delegate from Egypt.

After full adoption by the plenary, countries thanked the US for joining the consensus and thanked the secretariat of the Climate Change Convention and the Indonesian government for hosting the Conference.

Saturday, 15 December, 9:30 a.m. — The negotiations went through the night among the small groups of ministers trying to hash out the remaining differences. By sunrise, most of the differences had been resolved although some critical issues remained outstanding. A full plenary session, where all countries participate, was scheduled for 8 a.m.

After agreement on some procedural issues, Conference President Rachmat Witoelar, the Indonesian Environment Minister, asked countries to consider the document on "Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention," or what is commonly referred to as the "Bali Roadmap." The European Union said they would support the adoption of the document but India said the language of a key provision concerning the obligations of developing countries had been altered. Then China said it could not support the adoption of the document and the plenary session was suspended. Stay tuned...

Saturday, 15 December, 12:00 a.m. — The negotiations are still going on behind closed doors here while reporters are camping out in the halls. NGOs are still huddling to plot strategy while other delegates and NGOs have turned the Conference Center into a party.

The talks could go all night. There are just a few issues outstanding, says Yvo de Boer, chief of the Climate Change Convention. These include differences on the preambular language of the Bali roadmap, a description on what should guide developed and developing countries, and the nature of the body that will negotiate the future deal on climate change.

The talks have gone slower than de Boer says he expected, but he thought we were "on the brink of a decision." He says the remaining disputes were not over "wordsmithing" but things that "go to the core, not only on climate change, but on economic issues, and that is why people are devoting a lot of time to get it right."