Crunch time as climate deal talks pass deadline

A new draft agreement to avert the worst impacts of climate change is expected to be announced in the coming hours after talks at the COP26 summit in Scotland passed the Friday deadline.

Sticking points have included subsidies for coal and other fossil fuels, and financial help to poorer nations.

On Friday, envoys from small island nations threatened by rising sea levels said their land was fast disappearing.

The conference president, Alok Sharma, urged an injection of "can-do spirit".

Mr Sharma said he planned to release an amended draft deal at 08:00 GMT on Saturday based on consultations that continued late into the night.

A formal plenary to adopt the final decisions of the summit was then envisaged for Saturday afternoon, Mr Sharma added.

Scientists say that limiting warming to 1.5C compared to pre-industrial levels will protect us from the most dangerous impacts of climate change. It is a key part of the Paris agreement that most countries signed up to.

Meeting the goal requires global emissions to be cut by 45% by 2030 and to zero overall by 2050. One example of the impact of global temperature rise above 2C is the death of virtually all coral reefs, scientists say.

A draft agreement released early on Friday included watered down commitments to end the use of coal and other fossil fuels. While that was criticised by campaigners, some observers highlighted that this would be the first time coal was explicitly mentioned in UN documents of this type.

Meanwhile, China and Saudi Arabia are said to be among a group of countries seeking to remove references from the agreement opposing fossil fuel subsidies, Reuters news agency reported, citing sources close to the negotiations.

The draft's revised text also asked for much tighter deadlines for governments to reveal their plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.