We've seen, predictably, a wide divergence of views on exactly how successful the outcome was. But, at just the time when we Brits were getting such flak from our EU colleagues for walking away with our toys in Brussels, it was at least heartening to see Chris Huhne rolling his sleeves up and playing the role of good European in support of Connie Hedegaard, the EU Commission climate chief.

Indeed, when it comes to the climate, the EU presents a reasonably united front. With its legally binding 2020 targets extending beyond the expiry of Kyoto next year, and the prospect of even deeper carbon emission cuts, the EU has been largely going it alone. At the same time, and acutely conscious of the need to maintain Europe's economic competitiveness (never mind the health of the planet), it has sought to exert some influence on the world's largest emitters (notably China, the US and India) to join in.

As Connie Hedegaard commented in September; "What is the point of extending our commitments if none of the other big economies say that they are willing to follow, if not today, then at least at some time tomorrow?"

So what exactly was agreed at Durban?

Well, we do at least now seem to have all the key emitters committed to a process - albeit one with no prospect of binding emission cuts before 2020. But few predicted Durban would even deliver that, and certainly when compared to the outcome of last year's talks in Cancun we do seem to be on a trajectory towards a global agreement (admittedly one that is going to take some time to emerge, and embracing something of a fudge around what a deal with "legal force" will actually look like).

Yet, even by Chris Huhne's own admission, on its own the Durban deal - sorry, 'platform' - is in itself insufficient to keep global temperature rises below the 2°C that most scientists agree is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
So, it really does depend on whether you're inclined to see the glass half-empty or half-full. Desperately disappointing to the green lobby for its lack of any immediate and binding commitments, my own view is that Durban has at least pointed the global community in the right direction, in recognition that coordinated and unified action is required, and that has to be progress.

As to what happens to the Kyoto protocol in the interim is an entirely separate question. Canada has since confirmed it's dropping out of what is still the world's only legally binding climate treaty, and despite the EU's commitment to an extended period after 2012, enthusiasm elsewhere to join in a second commitment period is somewhat patchy. But we've seen what a country like China can do outside of Kyoto to build its own renewable energy industries, and so perhaps now is the time to stop thinking Kyoto is the only game in town.

But what Durban also delivered was an agreement on the format of the $100 billion a year Green Climate Fund, designed to help developing nations adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change -with the definition of a developing nation left for another day.
But there is one further highlight from Durban that deserves a mention. Not only did the talks illustrate to our European colleagues that the UK is an enthusiastic advocate of at least one key EU policy; there was also support for those commentators who have argued that change to combat global warming must come from the bottom up and not the top down, with responsibility delegated to the regional and city level.

I'm referring of course to the presentation at Durban, by the World Green Building Council, of the Urban Retrofit Award - to Birmingham. This prestigious award was in recognition of the City Council's Energy Savers Programme, which will deliver £1.5 billion of green retrofit work to almost 200,000 buildings across the region, including energy efficiency and renewable energy measures for domestic and public buildings.

Funded by a combination of City Council grant, the Energy Company Obligation subsidy and private finance, the Programme aims to dramatically reduce the amount of households living in fuel poverty and at the same time safeguard 60,000 'green' jobs in our region. This is something Birmingham can be rightly proud of, and is a model for providing affordable funding under the Green Deal that neighbouring cities have already agreed to copy.

I sense a growing determination from our civic leaders, and the regional business community, to act now on climate change and let the politicians play catch up. Perhaps a bottom up approach really is the way forward.

Indeed, at the recent Midland Environmental Business Company (MBEC) 20th anniversary dinner, president and guest speaker Jonathan Porritt CBE spoke eloquently of the immense challenge we face and the need for local action.

The message here is particularly important for Midlands businesses, at a time of seemingly permanent economic gloom. UK and EU climate law and policy needs to be stable and predictable, and sufficiently challenging, if we're to encourage and nurture the emerging green economy, because that's where we'll find the holy grail "win-win" scenario of reduced emissions in tandem with economic growth. Birmingham Energy Savers offers an excellent example of what's possible - and a superb opportunity for our city to show leadership on a global stage.