Almost 200 nations were poised Saturday to adopt a compromise on how to curb climate change and to keep a key global warming target alive after 15 days of contentious climate talks.

Negotiators yesterday shuttled between delegations at the UN climate talks in Scotland, seeking a deal to give the world a fighting chance of avoiding the worst effects of global warming, as the British host told them they had just hours left.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday appealed to richer countries to place more “cash on the table” to secure a climate breakthrough as the COP26 meeting in Glasgow slipped into overtime.

A surprise deal between China and the United States, the world’s two biggest greenhouse gas emitters, has boosted the COP26 UN climate summit as it enters the last day of hard bargaining to try to stop global warming becoming catastrophic.

More than 200 scientists told the COP26 summit yesterday to take immediate action to halt global warming, warning in an open letter that some climate change impacts were “irreversible” for generations.

The United States and China, the world's two largest emitters of carbon dioxide, unveiled a deal to ramp up cooperation tackling climate change, including by cutting methane emissions, phasing out coal consumption and protecting forests.

Heavy rains on Sri Lanka's coast and in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu have killed at least 25 people, destroyed thousands of homes and snarled traffic, authorities said.

The British hosts of the UN climate conference have called on countries to raise their ambitions to cut greenhouse gas emissions by next year, acknowledging that current pledges fall short of what is needed to avert climate catastrophe.

COP26 President Alok Sharma has announced £120 million to support climate action in Bangladesh.

Poor nations are pressuring their wealthy counterparts at the UN climate summit to pay up for the mounting damage being caused by global warming, pointing to increasing powerful storms, cyclones, droughts and floods afflicting their people.

A portion of an embankment has gone into the Bangshi due to untimely erosion by the river in Fatepur union of Mirzapur upazila, threatening schools, market and other establishments.

The reinforcing and heightening work of old coastal embankments in Pirojpur, Barguna and Patuakhali is going on in full swing, with the completion deadline of June 2022.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud has said that Bangladesh is now a role model in reducing the risks induced by climate change.

Former US President Barack Obama on Monday lent his backing to appeals for more help from those on the frontline of global warming, as developing and rich nations engage to try to end years of deadlock over cash for climate change.

COP26’s first week saw keynote pledges to end deforestation, phase out coal, and mobilise trillions for green investment. But observers say there is a gulf between host Britain’s proclamations and the emissions cuts that must be achieved.

Forty-five nations were scheduled to pledge to step up protection of nature and overhaul farming to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the British hosts of the COP26 UN climate summit said, as thousands of climate protesters around the globe joined Glasgow to protest against climate inaction by world leaders.

Thousands of young people marched through the streets of Glasgow yesterday to protest a lack of climate action with a clear message to negotiators at the COP26 summit: “If not now, when?” 

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen yesterday expressed optimism about adequate flow of funds to address climate change-related challenges, noting that Bangladesh has taken a very strong leadership role in COP26.

Activists will take over the UN climate summit in Scotland on Friday, capping off a week of dizzying government speeches and pledges with a student march, youth-led presentations, and a giant iceberg shipped from Greenland to Glasgow's River Clyde to dramatize the plight of the Arctic.

UN conference host Britain said 77 countries had pledged to phase out coal, dirtiest of the fossil fuels that drive global warming, as a study showed the carbon dioxide they release into the atmosphere had rebounded to near pre-pandemic levels.