Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Cop28 President, said he was not satisfied with the speed and pace of talks despite the fact good progress had been made.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Dr Al Jaber said the clock was ticking, and parties needed to move faster and “break out of silos”.
Dr Al Jaber spoke before a special majlis of ministers and heads of delegation – something new for a Cop – to try to break the deadlock.
The future of fossil fuels and scaling up climate finance are among the key issues yet to be agreed at the crucial talks that are scheduled to end at 11am on Tuesday.
“We are making good progress,” said Dr Al Jaber. “Am I satisfied with the speed and the pace? No.”
The majlis that followed outlined the deep divisions that still exist among the close to 200 parties at the Cop28 summit.
It heard particularly impassioned calls from developing and small island states for urgent action. Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster, Samoa’s Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Lands appealed for everyone to do “what is right”.
“I don’t want to go back and say to [people] whose homes are being lost that I sat around in a circle with leaders and we couldn’t come up with the right mechanism to help,” said Mr Schuster, who is also the chair of the Alliance of Small Island States. “I appeal for everyone to do what is right not just for your country but the world.”