The Cancun UN climate talks ended last week with an accord, to set the pace for next year's Durban meeting. This was real progress, in spite of subzero expectations and plenty of disagreements during the 2 weeks of the meeting.

There is reason for cautious optimism: there's a commitment to extend the CDM framework beyond Kyoto and to include new aspects such as CCS and REDD. This is good news for carbon trading but as usual the devil is in the detail - and all technicalities need to be worked out in the new year. One can anticipate that funding for these projects will have to come from the sale of carbon credits, which is the obvious way to raise funding in developed nations to fund clean energy projects in the developing world. The economic potential of carbon trading as a force to fight climate change far exceeds the economic might of governments.

Progress with REDD was difficult, with Bolivia showing strong opposition to the plans. REDD and forestry in general (to include afforestation and reforestation) must play a central role, and in a sense Cancun was a triumph because, in spite of the hurdles and cacophony of the UN forum, for the first time ever a consensus is in place to acknowledge that our two main priorities are the protection of the rainforests and the generation of clean electricity. This statement in itself makes Cancun a significant success.