Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, the current chair of SAARC, had an early chance to practice her diplomacy: "innovative, " she declared Sharif's proposal.

CNN: A FAILURE AT THE TOP

But given its past performances, the question is whether SAARC will be able to steer the regional ship through the climate change storm.

BBC: South Asian bloc active at climate meeting

He grabbed the offensive with a considered diplomatic initiative to expand the scope of SAARC discussions beyond economic matters, which is the group's normal brief.

CNN: A FAILURE AT THE TOP

"SAARC coming together like this is of course good in terms of sharing of climate knowledge, " says Saleemul Haq, a climate expert with the International Institute for Environment and Development.

BBC: South Asian bloc active at climate meeting

Assuming that all these will change if the latest signs of SAARC trying to be active at Cancun mean anything, there still remains an even more serious challenge: rising carbon emissions.

BBC: South Asian bloc active at climate meeting

So, even if SAARC really comes together to deal with the effects of climate change while the big players in the region and elsewhere fail to cut down their emissions, experts say it will be a zero-sum game.

BBC: South Asian bloc active at climate meeting

"Environment ministers from all SAARC member countries except Sri Lanka were present in the meet and it was indeed a nice beginning towards dealing with the climate change on a regional basis, " said Nepalese environment minister Thakur Prasad Sharma after attending the informal meet.

BBC: South Asian bloc active at climate meeting