UK climate minister Graham Stuart has denied that his temporary absence from the Cop28 negotiations during its most critical stage meant the country was not playing a major part in the talks.

Mr Stuart had flown the 6,800-mile round trip to help push through the Government’s Safety of Rwanda Bill in the House of Commons, which many Tory MPs had threatened to derail.

He arrived back in Dubai in time for the final agreement to be approved, which he hailed as an “historic moment”.

Numerous NGOs and scientists have poured scorn on the minister for making the journey in what they see as putting the immediate needs of the Prime Minister ahead of humanity’s global future, while adding to the carbon emissions the talks are aiming to reduce.

Speaking to BBC News in Dubai, Mr Stuart said: “The UK has, as ever in this space, been absolutely central to the outcomes and the most notable outcome of all, which is this global stocktake text.

“I was awake for a number of hours in constant contact with my team and of course my very able colleague, Lord Benyon, was here as well.

“So we were here fully on the ground, fully in touch and all decisions came through me and I’m just delighted with the contribution the UK has been able to make to what is an historic agreement today.”

According to the carbon calculator of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, a UN agency, Mr Stuart would have produced 674.8kg of CO2 on his round trip, assuming he flew economy.

This equates to around one-fifteenth of the average annual CO2 footprint per person in the UK, or three round trips between London and Madrid and around two-thirds of the emissions flying between the UK capital and Los Angeles.

Speaking after the agreement was announced by Cop28 President Sultan al-Jaber, Mr Stuart said “there are elements here we do not like”, but said the text signals an end to the fossil fuel era.

Developing countries have criticised rich nations for wanting to phase out fossil fuels but without wanting to help them do so, arguing that they do not have the finances to transition to clean energy by themselves.

Mr Stuart has previously said the UK is playing its part, referencing how much the country had decarbonised in the past 30 years, although analysts have noted that the speed of emissions reductions has slowed in recent years.

Asked on Tuesday about the carbon emissions from Mr Stuart’s flights, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “This Government is not anti-flying.

“We don’t lecture the public to that regard. The most important thing is the outcomes of Cop, which minister Stuart is obviously leading for the UK on.”