The U.N. climate conference narrowly escaped collapse by agreeing Saturday to recognize a political accord brokered by President Barack Obama with China and other emerging powers. The decision was made after an all-night plenary session, in which a small group of nations blocked the Copenhagen Accord, because it lacks specific targets for reducing carbon emissions.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that a non-binding climate change agreement was nonetheless a real deal.

“All countries have agreed to work towards a common long-term goal to limit global temperature rise to below two degrees Celsius. Many governments have made important commitments to reduce or limit emissions,” he told the press.

The so-called Copenhagen Accord, a 12-paragraph document, sets targets to prevent the Earth’s average temperature from rising more than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and outlines a plan of $100 billion in annual aid to poor nations to deal with climate change, starting in 2020.

Ban also said the accord only marked a beginning.

“First, we need to turn this agreement into a legally binding treaty,” he said. “I will work with world leaders over the coming months to make this happen. Second, we must launch the Copenhagen Green Climate fund. The U.N. system will work to ensure that it can immediately start to deliver immediate results to people in need and jump-start clean energy growth in developing countries.”

Several developing countries - including Bolivia, Cuba, Sudan and Venezuela - bitterly protested the deal and said it is unacceptable because it lacks specific targets for reducing carbon emissions. The deal is non-binding because decisions are made by consensus in U.N. climate negotiations, and the 193 participants at Copenhagen failed to agree.