The environment secretary has said that President Bush should now lead a "bipartisan" drive to put the US at the heart of a 'Kyoto II' deal on climate change.

In an interview with the Financial Times on Friday David Miliband said the US president, weakened by a drubbing in the mid-term elections, could redeem his reputation by reaching a global agreement that bound polluters to cutting greenhouse gases.

"I can think of no greater legacy from the last two years of the Bush administration than to lead a bipartisan drive in America to put America at the heart of a global, binding long-term emissions reduction agreement," he said.

His comments are thought to reflect hopes in Westminster that the Democrat majority in Congress could, in time, lead to a change of direction in US environmental policy which under Bush has been reluctant to act.

Britain is expected to try to reinvigorate a stalled post-Kyoto framework at international climate change talks in Nairobi.

But Miliband admitted that there was little chance of a breakthrough "in one fell swoop".

He believes that the Nairobi summit ought to be viewed as the start of efforts "to break the log jam".

He also said that the government's Stern review of environmental economics had negated some opponents' arguments.

Miliband claimed the report had shifted the argument on to the issue of why the UK should take action on climate change until the likes of China did so.

However he declined to say if he backed 'green' taxes, and to comment on a leaked memo that showed he was considering increasing taxes on gas-guzzling vehicles and air travel.

"I deplore leaks and I'm not going to say anything," he said.

"After the pre-Budget report, we have a pre-Budget consultation and that's the way we do it.

"I'm happy to talk about the what the government's done, I'm not happy to talk about what the government's thinking about."