New Delhi: On Thursday, day after Chile announced that it will be unable to host the 25th edition of the United Nations annual conference of parties (COP), Spain offered to step up and host it in Madrid instead on the same dates.
That offer has now been accepted by Chile and the United Nations. COP25 will now be held in Madrid instead of Santiago between December 2 and 13.
“We are pleased to announce the COP Bureau has agreed that COP25 will take place from 2-13 December in Madrid, Spain,” said Patricia Espinosa C, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in a tweet.
After the offer was made by the president on Spain on Thursday, the UNFCCC bureau – a 12 member-panel of negotiator and facilitators which deliberates on administrative matters – met to deliberate on the proposal.
I have spoke with @CarolaSchmidtZ and @PEspinosaC and I have called for un urgent meeting of the UNFCCC Bureau in order to discuss a solution to host COP25 in December, as planned.
— Michał Kurtyka (@KurtykaMichal) October 31, 2019
Once Chile opted out owing to the civil uprising over wealth inequality in the country, Costa Rica, being the co-host, was discussed as an alternative location for the climate change meet. But soon, that too was ruled out after the minister for environment and energy said that it would be logistically ‘impossible’.
The seat of the UNFCC, Bonn, which is the fallback option in case no country is willing to host the COP, was also ruled out when the German government said that it would not be logistically possible to host the conference in such a short period of time.
When the Spain offer came to the UNFCC, it was not exactly spoilt for choices and, as expected, the offer was accepted by the bureau.
COP25, Madrid, Dec. 2-13, 2019
— Michał Kurtyka (@KurtykaMichal) November 1, 2019
Although the venue for the conference – which is expected to include 25,000 delegates – is yet to be announced, it is likely that the Fair Institution of Madrid (IFEMA) located around 14 km from the city centre will be the hosting venue.
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The change in venue from the southern hemisphere to the northern, and across a distance of over 10,000 km, is bound to pose logistical challenges to the activists, bureaucrats and journalists who had planned to be there for COP 25.
Teenage Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has already sent out an SOS seeking help with her travel arrangements from North America to Europe since she has chosen not to fly owing to carbon emissions.
As #COP25 has officially been moved from Santiago to Madrid I’ll need some help.
It turns out I’ve traveled half around the world, the wrong way:)
Now I need to find a way to cross the Atlantic in November… If anyone could help me find transport I would be so grateful.
-> https://t.co/vFQQcLTh2U— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) November 1, 2019
Action Aid, an NGO that works on reducing poverty and social injustices, has also expressed its reservations about the decision to move COP25 to Madrid.
“The shifting of COP25 from Chile to Madrid with only four weeks’ notice presents real barriers to participation for countries from the global South and civil society. Hotels in Madrid are already full. Last minute flights are expensive. Visas can be difficult to obtain at short notice. This sudden decision is likely to shift the balance of power towards the wealthier countries of the global North,” it said in a statement.
Leading up to the crucial COP 26 next year, when global ambitions on carbon emissions are to be reviewed and revised, the COP 25 is about voluntarily raising ambition.
One of the key goals of the COP 25 is to raise the self-declared carbon emission ambition of nations via raised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The NDCs are the bedrock of climate action negotiations and dictate the degree to which each nation is willing to cut down on emissions in different areas.