'Clear breakdown in trust' threatens Cop27 climate talks, warns UN chief.

Talks to reach a meaningful deal between wealthy and vulnerable nations on how to avert the worst of climate change are in danger because of a "clear breakdown in trust", UN Secretary-General Antonio warned Thursday.

On his return to Sharm e-Sheikh, Egypt, from the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, the UN chief told negotiators at the Cop27 climate change conference that the "world is watching" as they struggled to come to an agreement before the end of the event at the weekend.

The main sticking point is a fund that would compensate more vulnerable nations for human-induced climate change, as well as watered-down language around fossil fuel usage.

The US is among the nations most reluctant to agree to the fund, fearing it would leave it open to a range of legal liabilities because of its traditionally high greenhouse gas emissions.

'There is clearly a breakdown in trust between North and South, and between developed and emerging economies. This is no time for finger-pointing. The blame game is a recipe for mutually assured destruction,' Guterres told reporters.

The UN chief urged countries to deliver the kind of meaningful action that people, and the planet, so desperately need. 'The world is watching and has a simple message: stand and deliver,' he underscored.

He reminded world leaders that global emissions are at their highest levels in history, and climate impacts are decimating economies and societies.

'The most effective way to rebuild trust is by finding an ambitious and credible agreement on loss and damage and financial support to developing countries. The time for talking on loss and damage finance is over. We need action,' he stated, urging negotiators to deliver concrete solutions to resolve one of the thorniest issues on the table at this year's COP, or Conference of Parties, to the UN climate convention.

The UN chief also asked negotiators to send a clear signal that the voices of those on the frontlines of the crisis are being heard, while the world burning and drowning before their eyes.

'Reflect the urgency, scale and enormity of the challenge faced by developing countries. We cannot continue to deny climate justice to those who have contributed least to the climate crisis and are getting hurt the most,' he explained.

For the first time in the history of UN climate conferences, the issue of loss and damage has been included in the official agenda, due the efforts of Pakistan in its capacity as chairman of the Group of 77...