With only 18 months to go before the crucial Paris climate change summit, delegates representing 185 countries are still grappling with the process of reaching agreement, in the absence so far of a draft text to serve as a basis for negotiations.

At a “stocktaking” session that began yesterday afternoon behind closed doors there was widespread support for the two co-chairs – Artur Runge-Metzer of Germany and Kishan Kumarsingh of Trinidad and Tobago – to continue their work, sources said.

Various groups, including the Alliance of Small Island States, expressed confidence in their ability to produce a draft text. But China, supported by the Philippines, called for a more “collective” effort to construct it, involving a more representative group

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