After long hours of debate at the 2011 Durban talks, the participants agreed to form a new working group responsible for developing before 2015 a legal instrument applicable to all UNFCCC parties concerning anti-climate-change efforts after 2020.

As the platform, formally Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (Durban Platform), was a product of compromise coming out in the extended hours of the conference, it is lacking in specification on its details.

When the platform was initiated earlier this year, rich countries tried to make it a "brand new table" for climate talks where the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities is void, a move rejected by many developing countries.

The future of the Durban Platform is expected to witness more fierce confrontation if the developed countries continue to use this new mechanism as a tool to shake off their fair share of the responsibilities.

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