Fate of global climate action 'in the balance' as U.N. talks go down to wire

EU Executive Vice-President in charge of the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans poses with ministers and envoys from the High Ambition Coalition during the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Madrid, Spain, December 13, 2019. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

MADRID (Reuters) - Big polluting countries faced last-ditch pressure from smaller nations to show serious commitment to fighting climate change as negotiators battled into the early hours of Saturday to salvage a result from a fraught U.N. summit in Madrid.

With the two-week gathering mired in interlocking disputes over how to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement on global warming, Chile, presiding over the talks, had earlier attempted to inject a note of optimism.