A draft agreement at the COP26 climate summit has watered down commitments to end the use of coal and other fossil fuels, as countries race to reach a deal after two weeks of talks.
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While the language around fossil fuels has been softened, the inclusion of the commitment in a final deal would be seen as a landmark moment.
A deal must be agreed by the end of the summit, which is in its final hours.
The UN meeting is seen as crucial for limiting the effects of global warming.
The draft agreement, which was published following all-night talks, also asks for much tighter deadlines for governments to reveal their plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
And it also strengthens support for poorer countries fighting climate change.
Negotiations over a final deal could stretch into today, or potentially even longer.
"This text is the bare minimum. The next few hours are going to determine the new dawn," says Simon Stiell, climate resilience minister for Grenada, a small island that is highly vulnerable to climate change.
"If the text withstands the battering it may get, we are holding onto 1.5C by our fingernails," he says, referring to the ambition to limit global temperature rise to 1.5C to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
Negotiators from countries that depend on fossil fuels may still attempt to amend the text before the summit ends.
Climate groups cautiously welcomed signs of progress in the draft but said there is a long way to go yet.
"The key line on phasing out coal and fossil fuel subsidies has been critically weakened, but it's still there and needs to be strengthened again before this summit closes," says Jennifer Morgan of Greenpeace International.
"But there's wording in here worth holding on to and the UK presidency needs to fight tooth and nail to keep the most ambitious elements in the deal," she says.
Prof Jim Watson at University College London said the draft agreement had encouraging elements, but that overall it was "nowhere near ambitious enough".
UN chief António Guterres has warned COP26 would probably not achieve the goal of limiting global warning. Photo: CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP
The draft comes after UN chief António Guterres warned that COP26 would probably not achieve its aims and the crucial goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C is on "life support".
Limiting warming to 1.5C compared to pre-industrial levels is a key part of the Paris agreement that most countries signed up to. It requires cutting global emissions by 45 percent 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 previous version of the agreement called upon parties to "accelerate the phasing-out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuels".
This has been changed to call for "accelerating the phase-out of unabated coal power and of inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels".
Unabated coal is coal produced without the use of technology to capture the emitted carbon.
But the draft requests that countries submit their plans - known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) - to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change by next year's climate summit. Previous agreements asked countries to submit these NDCs every five years.
-BBC