Paris climate talks set to overrun as host calls for agreement to be struck

Updated

Crucial talks on a new deal to tackle global warming are set to overrun as countries continue to wrangle over the key issues.

Ministers from more than 190 countries worked through the night again into the last formal day of the two-week United Nations climate summit in Paris having been told "it's time to come to an agreement".

But French foreign minister Laurent Fabius, who is chairing the talks, has now said the final version of the draft agreement will not be produced until Saturday morning, pushing back the finish time of the talks well beyond the official Friday evening deadline.

The deal aims to curb global temperature rises to below dangerous levels and provide finance to help poor countries develop cleanly and cope with the inevitable consequences of climate change.

A new draft, circulated on Thursday night, was slightly shorter than previous versions and has lost most of its "square brackets" which denote disagreement.

But the key issues of finance for poor countries to deal with climate change, the differences in responsibility and actions of developed and developing countries, and the overall level of ambition in the agreement, are still the focus of political dispute.

Issuing the text, Mr Fabius said: "We are extremely close to the finishing line. We must show the necessary responsibility to find in the forthcoming hours a common ground.

"It's time to come to an agreement," he told the conference.

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