“THE city of Copenhagen is a crime scene tonight, with the guilty men and women fleeing to the airport,” said John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, on Friday night.

World leaders emerged with a climate agreement last night which they claimed was a “first step” in tackling global warming – but which campaigners criticised as “a toothless declaration” which would fail to avert catastrophe.

UK officials claimed to be “hopeful” that a climate deal could be reached tonight, but an agreement announced between the US and major developing economies was condemned by environmentalists as “a toothless declaration” which would not tackle global warming.

China is now the world’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2), surpassing America for the first time, according to new research today.

Greenpeace say solar power could provide energy for more than one billion people.