Kerry said trillions of dollars have been spent on subsidies "in the last five or six years. That is the definition of insanity."

"We're the largest oil and gas producer in the world. We have some of those subsidies," he said.

"Those subsidies have to go."

Kerry was addressing a COP26 "stocktake", the public hearing that allows countries to raise concerns over the texts negotiated so far.

New wording on Friday called for countries to accelerate "the phase-out of unabated coal power and of inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels".

That was softer than a first iteration of the text, but observers said the inclusion of the fuels driving the climate crisis was an important step.

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KERRY GROUP