Summary

  • UN climate talks in Katowice, Poland, have gone into overtime as negotiators try to reach a deal

  • Organisers want to agree the next steps forward for the Paris climate agreement, struck in 2015

  • A UN report says keeping the world within a safe limit of warming requires "rapid" and "unprecedented" changes to society

  • But there are sticking points, including the issue of paying poorer countries for damage caused by global warming

  1. Session delayedpublished at 15:03 Greenwich Mean Time 15 December 2018

    We're hearing that the plenary session has been delayed until 6pm GMT.

    You can follow all the developments from the climate change talks here on our main story.

  2. Sir David Attenborough's warning in Polandpublished at 14:55 Greenwich Mean Time 15 December 2018

    British naturalist Sir David Attenborough opened the climate change talks earlier this month.

    In his speech, he implored world leaders to act now to save the natural world, before it's too late.

    Media caption,

    Sir David Attenborough: Time is running out

  3. What's up for debate?published at 14:42 Greenwich Mean Time 15 December 2018

    Carbon dioxide emissionsImage source, PA

    Officials want to set out a common rule book for how countries report their emissions of harmful gases, and how they’re combating them.

    There is also talk of financial support for poorer countries suffering from the effects of climate change, and carbon markets – in which countries buy “carbon credits” from each other to lower their emissions.

    Many issues have proven controversial. Negotiators extended the talks through the night ahead of today’s session, and published the rulebook proposals this morning.

    You can read all 156 pages of the proposals here, external... Or try this helpful (and brief!) rundown from our environment correspondent Matt McGrath, who's at the talks.

  4. UN climate change talks nearing a closepublished at 14:28 Greenwich Mean Time 15 December 2018

    Welcome to the BBC’s coverage of the final stages of the UN climate summit in Poland.

    Officials from nearly 200 countries are in Katowice to decide the rules for implementing the 2015 Paris Agreement.

    Several sticking points forced negotiators to continue talks through the night on Friday, but there are still high hopes for a deal.

    Follow along for live announcements, reaction and analysis.

    Participants take part in a plenary session on the final day of the COP24 U.N. Climate Change Conference 2018Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Negotiations continued through the night on Friday