The UN climate summit is supposed to conclude on Friday but is almost certain to run into overtime as nations from the United States to China panned a text released by the Azerbaijani hosts.

The main priority at COP29 in Baku is agreeing a new target to replace the $100 billion a year that rich nations provide poorer ones to reduce emissions and adapt to disaster.

Developing countries plus China, an influential negotiating bloc, are pushing for $1.3 trillion by 2030 and want at least $500 billion of that from developed nations.

Major contributors like the European Union have baulked at such demands, and insist private sector money must be counted toward the goal.

The latest draft recognised that developing countries need at least "USD [X] trillion" per year but omitted a concrete figure.

"There is a critical piece of this puzzle missing: the overall number," said Cedric Schuster, the Samoan chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States, a coalition of nations facing an existential threat from rising seas.

"The time for political games is over."

Ali Mohamed, the chair of the African Group of Negotiators, another important bloc, said the "elephant in the room" was the missing figure.

"This is the reason we are here," said Mohamed, who is also Kenya's climate envoy.

Azerbaijan said it would release a shorter, revised draft later Thursday that would contain numbers.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who flew back to Baku after attending COP29's opening last week, said that negotiators had not yet shifted from initial positions and urged a "final push" for a deal.

"Failure is not an option."

- Language on fossil fuels -

China, the world's largest emitter, said the text was "not satisfactory" but urged "all parties to meet one another halfway".

Other major sticking points -- including who contributes climate finance and how the money is raised and delivered -- were left unresolved in the text.

Apart from splits over money, many nations said the draft failed to reflect any urgency on phasing out coal, oil and gas -- the main drivers of global warming.

"We are, frankly, deeply concerned at this stage about what we view as a glaring imbalance in the text thus far," US climate envoy John Podesta said.

The text's sections on cutting planet-warming emissions were "absolutely unacceptable", he added.

Last year's COP28 summit in Dubai, after long negotiations, led to a landmark call on the world to transition away from fossil fuels.

Saudi Arabia, speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, aimed to draw a line in Baku, gains it would "not accept any text that targets any specific sectors, including fossil fuel".

Australian climate minister Chris Bowen said countries had "hidden, pared back or minimised" references to fossil fuels, calling it "a big step back".

As the clock ticks down, frustration in Baku boiled over at the COP29 hosts.

"Could I please -- could I please -- urge you to step up the leadership?" EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said in pointed remarks.

"I'm not going to sugar-coat it. I'm really sorry to say, but the text we now have in front of us -- in our view -- is imbalanced, unworkable and unacceptable."

COP29 lead negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev appealed for "compromise and solidarity".

"This is a moment where you need to put all your cards on the table," he told delegates, stressing there was "a long way to go".

- Not over yet -

Ireland's climate minister Eamon Ryan insisted negotiations were "advancing" behind the scenes and the final text will be "radically different" from the draft.

"I think there is room for further agreement," he told AFP.

Developed countries say it is politically unrealistic not to count private investment. They also want to broaden the list of donors -- notably to include China, which provides its own aid but has no obligations as it remains classified as a developing country.

Presently, most climate finance is issued as loans, meaning developing nations incur more debt as they build resilience against global warming.

Panama's negotiator Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez said that developing countries' envoys might find it easier to reach outer space than to hear concrete finance figures from wealthy nations.

"Sadly, Mars is years away and we only have hours to get to this decision," he said.

bur-np-lth-sct/sbk

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