China seeks balanced, pragmatic deal in Paris

As of Friday, the text included a goal of limiting the temperature rise to well below 2 C, and a reference was made to a 1.5 C limit.

Tasneem Essop, the World Wildlife Fund's head of delegation to the Paris talks, said that version signals a stronger intention to cut emissions, but countries need to outline how they intend to achieve these goals.

Li Junfeng, director general of climate change strategy at the National Development and Reform Commission, said the suddenly emerged "coalition of high ambition" has diverted attention from pragmatic action.

"It took too much time to discuss the issue of the 1.5 goal. More important issues — such as finance, legally binding and ambition — have been neglected," Li said.

"Higher ambition is positive, but it's too rushed. All economic models and plans were built on the basis of the 2 C goal. A hollow ambition has hindered pragmatic action and dragged on progress in the negotiations," Li said.

On Thursday, Jennifer Morgan, director of the climate program at the World Resources Institute said, "It's clear that the real negotiations have finally begun".

"In the coming hours, negotiators need to work constructively and find common ground to ensure that the text progresses along an ambitious and balanced path," she said.