The world's climate negotiators on Tuesday haggled beyond a host-imposed deadline for a deal as at-risk nations voiced fury over a proposed compromise that stops short of phasing out fossil fuels.

The Emirati president of the COP28 summit being held in Dubai had pressed the nearly 200 nations to reach an ambitious deal by the official end of talks at 11 a.m., in an effort to force decisions.

But after another late night, there was no sign that the talks were anywhere near completion, with negotiators waiting for a fresh text after wide criticism of a draft released Monday.

"We have time and we are prepared to stay a little longer," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.

The team from the Marshall Islands ­— which lies on average 2.1 meters above sea level and is threatened with submersion as ice melts — vowed to stay until the end.

The Pacific archipelago's negotiator, John Silk, said that his country "did not come here to sign our death warrant."

Cassie Flynn, global director of climate change at the United Nations Development Program, said it was still possible to reach a deal that goes beyond the draft's "watery" language on fossil fuels.

"Parties are working around the clock," she said. "Negotiators are scurrying around rooms and on phone calls to try to find the places where they can agree."

Campaigners had hoped the COP28 summit — set in a glitzy metropolis built on petrodollars — would take the historic step of calling for the first time for a global phase-out of fossil fuels, which account for three-quarters of greenhouse gas emissions blamed for the planetary crisis.

But climate decisions must be made by consensus and Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has led opposition to the threat to its financial lifeblood.             

WITH AFP