Brazil has refused to sign an anti-deforestation pledge, dealing a blow to the Climate Change summit in New York.

The Brazilian delegation claimed measures to end illegal deforestation had been drafted behind closed doors at the United Nations without its participation.

The fit of pique gravely undermines the declaration, which was meant as a centre-piece of the one-day summit. The Amazon jungles, “the lungs of the planet”, absorb huge quantities of carbon dioxide, the main cause of global warming. Logging is the second biggest source of emissions.

Ending deforestation is pivotal to dealing with climate change, the British Development Secretary Justine Greening said in New York. “Putting a stop to deforestation is the smart thing to do,” she said. “Without action, the world will get hungrier, poorer and more dangerous. There is no point building a health clinic for poor people in Bangladesh if it will get washed away by the next floods.”

Brazil’s stance took the summit by surprise. “Unfortunately, we were not consulted,” Brazil’s Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira told the Associated Press. Her government, she said, was “not invited to be engaged in the preparation process” and was merely handed a copy of the text when it was completed.

In just a decade, Brazil has reduced deforestation by 79 per cent, according to The Climate Group. However, last year saw a brief pick-up in deforestation rates, a reversal that some environmentalists have blamed on a relaxation of logging restrictions.

In pictures: Climate Change Protests Around the World Show all 6 1 /6 In pictures: Climate Change Protests Around the World In pictures: Climate Change Protests Around the World Sydney Enviromental protesters form the words 'Beyond Coal + Gas' during a meeting in a park in Sydney on September 21, 2014, as part of a global protest on climate change. Australians rallied for climate action forming a human chain message as part of an international day of action to fight climate change ahead of a United Nations summit in New York on 23 September AFP/Getty In pictures: Climate Change Protests Around the World London People with giraffe puppets march during The People's Climate March, central London, a march and rally to demand urgent action on climate change PA In pictures: Climate Change Protests Around the World New York Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, centre, walks down 6th Avenue during the People's Climate March. Activists mobilized in cities across the globe for marches against climate change, with one of the biggest planned for New York AFP/Getty In pictures: Climate Change Protests Around the World New York People dance during a rally against climate change in New York Reuters In pictures: Climate Change Protests Around the World London Vivienne Westwood, Peter Gabriel and Emma Thompson show their support at the People's Climate March, London PA In pictures: Climate Change Protests Around the World Berlin Participants of the climate demonstration 'Mal schnell die Welt retten' (roughly translated as 'Save the world in passing') hold signs reading 'Share more, buy less' in front of Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, 21 September 2014 EPA

The UN denied freezing Brazil out. “There was no desire to exclude Brazil,” said Charles McNeill, a policy advisor at the United Nations Development Programme. “They are the most important country in this area. An effort that involves Brazil is much more powerful and impactful than one that doesn’t.”