Climate negotiators struggle for deal_ COP26 goes on extra time

Negotiators at COP26 were due to meet again on Saturday_ after failing to conclude a deal on the climate crisis to rein in rising temperatures that threaten the planet.

A draft of the final deal of the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference was released early on Friday_ which was supposed to be the final day of the two-week conference.

But a final agreement on limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) remains stuck over issues from coal and other fossil fuels to financial support for poorer nations from rich countries.

Alok Sharma_ the COP26 president_ called on negotiators from the nearly 200 countries at the conference in the Scottish city of Glasgow_ to come together and conclude an agreement.

 We have come a long way over the past two weeks and now we need that final injection of that  can-do spirit_ which is present at this COP_ so we get this shared endeavour over the line_ Sharma said.

The draft deal includes a requirement that countries set tougher climate pledges next year in an attempt to bridge the gap between their current targets and the much deeper cuts scientists say are needed this decade to avert catastrophic climate change.

Talks were at a  bit of a stalemate_ and the United States_ with support from the European Union_ was holding back talks_ said Lee White_ Gabon s minister for forests and climate change.

White said there was a lack of trust between rich and poor nations over payments from rich countries to the poor for damage from the worst effects of global warming  funds for adapting to climate change and carbon markets.

COP26 began on October 31 amid dire warnings from leaders_ activists and scientists that not enough was being done to curb global warming.

An agreement was supposed to be finalised 6pm local time (18:00 GMT) on Friday.

 The negotiating culture is not to make the hard compromises until the meeting goes into extra innings_ as we now have done_ said longtime climate talks observer Alden Meyer of the European think-tank E3G.

 But the UK presidency is still going to have to make a lot of people somewhat unhappy to get the comprehensive agreement we need out of Glasgow.

Saudi Arabia_ the world s second-largest oil producer and considered among the nations most resistant to strong wording on fossil fuels_ said the latest draft was  workable .

The Saudi delegate_ Ayman Shasly_ said the country would guard against any changes that  skew the balance of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

A final deal will require the unanimous consent of the nearly 200 countries that signed the Paris accord.