Once more on to the beach, dear friends. In the name of fighting global warning, 12,000 representatives from 185 countries and more than 1,000 business, public sector and media organisations are this weekend descending on Bali for a United Nations summit on climate change.

Environmentalists hope a fortnight of talks will forge a new global consensus on tackling climate change and lay the groundwork for a successor to the UN Kyoto protocol for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which expires in 2012.