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The latest pledges from countries on how they plan to rein in fossil-fuel emissions mean the world is closing in on its goal of keeping temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), a group of researchers said.

Earth is on track for average warming of 2.7 degrees Celsius by 2100, higher than the UN target, said an analysis Thursday of country pledges for curbing climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions.

At least 140 countries have submitted their tentative pledges to limit greenhouse gas emissions ahead of the Paris summit. A quartet of climate research bodies has criticized the pledges saying they're "not ideal."

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is set to be confronted by leaders of several Pacific Island nations who seek to take the leader to task for his stance on emissions reduction, according to Monday reports.Abbott has been accused of ignoring calls to push stronger emissions reduction targets from Pacific Island leaders, including the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Enele Sosene Sopoaga, the President of Kiribati, Anote Tong, and Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who warned that climate change caused by global rising temperatures could threaten their existence.

So far, 57 countries have submitted their intended climate contributions ahead of the Paris conference - but their combined pledges aren't enough to keep global warming in check. Experts say more ambition is needed.

Nations' plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stop global warming won't come close to curbing what many call the biggest threat of a generation, according to a new report by a consortium of research groups.

Twenty-six countries which include Australia, Mexico and South Korea, have volunteered new carbon-slashing pledges to a global warming pact since the last round of yearly talks in December 2014. But their collective effort in reining in climate change has been negligible, said a sobering report on Wednesday by Climate Action Tracker (CAT), a collective of research institutes.

Inadequate national targets for curbing climate-altering greenhouse gases meant emissions would be "far above" the level required to stave off disastrous global warming, analysts warned Wednesday.Instead of the UN-targeted ceiling of two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) of average warming over pre-Industrial Revolution levels, the world was on track for 2.9-3.1 C by 2100, according to the Climate Action Tracker (CAT), a tool developed by a consortium of four research organisations.

Pledges from dozens of nations to rein in carbon emissions aren’t enough so far to avoid catastrophic climate change, according to four European research centers. Plans submitted by China, the U.S., the European Union and other top polluters won’t limit global warming to the 2-degree Celsius (3.6-degree Fahrenheit) threshold that scientists have recommended, the Climate Action Tracker coalition said in a report Wednesday.

Climate trackers have warned delegates drafting December's Paris climate accord that the emission cuts targeted by countries will not ensure the UN's targeted 2-degree limit - saying the real figure will be higher.