The star turn at the UN climate change talks in Nairobi came from Britain, according to a proud David Miliband.
The environment secretary told Guardian Unlimited in the latest of a series of exclusive podcast interviews that the Stern report, commissioned by the chancellor, Gordon Brown, and published last month to widespread acclaim, has been a hit on the international stage.
A packed room of 450 high powered peopled debated the report's content, Mr Miliband told us earlier today.
The Australian prime minister, John Howard, whose government resisted becoming a signatory to the Kyoto agreement on the grounds that it wasn't fair because developing countries like China and India didn't have to have binding targets, is starting to wonder whether he was being so clever after all, Mr Miliband said.
With the worst drought facing the Australian continent in over 1,000 years, maybe there is an economic case for trying to be part of the solution to pollution.
And from Mr Miliband's point of view, it's what happens next that counts. So what if the US ducked out last time?
A new political dynamic in the US which sees president Bush's power diminished by a Democrat-led congress, could ensure America does the right thing this time and pitches in to a post-2012 agreement.
The big players on the international stage need to knuckle down and get working. If this UN summit was about anything, it was to gauge the mood for strong commitment and difficult decisions in the future.
As Britain's representative, Mr Miliband is signalling to the international community that he, for one, is willing to do it. But it is clear from his report that not all representatives are quite there yet.
Listen to today's podcast here
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Listen to Monday's podcast here
