France, Nov. 10 -- The 30th UN climate summit opens in the Brazilian Amazon on Monday as nations fall short on emissions pledges and the world edges closer to dangerous warming.Fewer than half of all countries have updated their climate plans, while political rifts cloud hopes of progress on phasing out fossil fuels.

The conference is being held in Belem, at the gateway to the Amazon rainforest, bringing together nearly 190 national delegations and up to 50,000 participants.

Brazil's presidency has called it the "Cop of the people, Cop of truth, Cop of action", but the summit faces an unclear agenda and sharp disagreements over how - or even whether - a final declaration can be reached.

Just over a month ago, countries were due to publ...