Talks on preserving a 100-strong ‘high ambition’ alliance that helped deliver the Paris climate deal last December are ongoing, according to a legal advisor for the world’s poorest countries.

The unlikely group saw the US, Canada and EU link arms with African, Pacific and smaller Asian states in the closing days of the UN summit, agreeing to pursue a tough global warming limit of 1.5C.

Most observers had assumed the politically expedient coalition – the brainchild of Marshall Islands diplomat Tony de Brum – would expire when the conference closed.

But Achala Abeysinghe, legal and technical advisor to the Least Developed Countries group, told a meeting in London on Monday discussions are under way to maintain its unity.