The 2019 Climate Summit officially opens in Madrid in its twenty-fifth edition, the COP25; a decisive year, given that it is the last convention held before the Paris Agreement (signed during COP21 2015) enters into force as of January 2020. It is the last chance for Conference members of the Parties to review the actions that put in place a sustainable plan to deal effectively with climate change. In other words, it is time to establish concrete time frames, new rules and an update of the NDCs (the climate commitments), key in these negotiations.
In a first formal act, the president of last year’s Summit held in Poland (COP24), Michal Kurtyka, appointed Carolina Schmidt, Minister of the Environment of the Government of Chile, as the new president of COP25. Kurtyka remembered when he took over the responsibility of the presidency of the Climate Summit a year ago, “a little scared”. “Maybe the world is not changing as we expected, but I have my hope in the young people, and in their courage,” said Kurtyka, moments before handing over the baton to Schmidt.
The president of last year’s Summit held in Poland (COP24), Michal Kurtyka, has appointed Carolina Schmidt, Minister of the Environment of the Government of Chile, as the new president of COP25.
For his part, Schmidt has stated that he assumes a necessary and urgent commitment: “Working together we will be able to face the greatest common challenge that we face in the whole world: climate change”, and has highlighted that this COP25 will be a blue COP : “Our The intention is to implement a platform of climate solutions that allows a sustainable management of the oceans ”. In addition, he has added: “Science is a key ally not only in diagnosis, but also in solutions.” On the other hand, Schmidt did not want to miss the opportunity to thank the hosts, Spain, for hosting the summit, which could not be held in Chile due to social protests: “It is painful not to be able to host COP25 in our country ”.
In addition to the ocean sustainability plan, the president of COP25 also wanted to highlight other important lines of action that will be put on the table throughout the summit: mitigation of the carbon footprint (through the closure of power plants of coal), promote the circular economy, the elimination of single-use plastics , and evaluate the incorporation of a fifth element of justice, which incorporates perspectives such as gender, to evaluate inequality and caused by the consequences of climate change.
COP25 in figures
The 2019 Climate Summit held in Madrid has a cost of 50 million euros. For its part, the famous COP21 in Paris cost almost 180 million.
COP25 will last until December 13, and will have 25,000 attendees; 4,000 people in the technical staff of the organization; 300 people hired by the Madrid Fair Institution (IFEMA); 50 engineers in the Network Coordination Center; 2,000 daily volunteers and 1,500 accredited journalists.
The Summit will also be attended by the young climate activist Greta Thunberg , famous for her social impact in riots such as the Fridays For Future movement.
