CLIMATE CRISIS: COP25 talks open as 'point of no return' looms into sight

CLIMATE CHANGE: COP25 talks open as 'point of no return' looms into sight
UN Climate Control Conference Madrid
By: Iain Fraser - Consultant Editor
Aboard the AVE Renfe - Malaga to Madrid Bullet Train

I have made a concerted effort to ensure that I attend COP25 - The UN Climate Control Conference being hosted at IFEMA - The Feria de Madrid Spain which thanks to this superfast, highly efficient Renfe AVE "Bullet Train" I will be arriving in Madrid at 12.18hrs CET.

The 25th COP [the Conference of the Parties] promises to be radical with Political leaders and climate diplomats are meeting for two weeks of talks amid a growing sense of crisis. Some 50 world leaders are expected to attend with the notable absence of the delusional US President who has obviously snubbed the event preferring to adopt the ostrich protocol - but then he was never very bright!



However, the US will be "represented" by Trump´s bête noire Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi who will attend the conference with a congressional delegation.

According to UN Secretary General António Guterres, "the point of no return is no longer over the horizon".

Speaking ahead of the meeting the UN secretary general said the climate crisis was imminent and political leaders had to respond.

"In the crucial 12 months ahead, it is essential that we secure more ambitious national commitments - particularly from the main emitters - to immediately start reducing greenhouse gas emissions at a pace consistent to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050."

"We simply have to stop digging and drilling and take advantage of the vast possibilities offered by renewable energy and nature-based solutions" Mr Guterres said.

Meanwhile, Save the Children says that climate shocks have left millions in Africa facing hunger. The charity says 33 million people are at emergency levels of food insecurity due to cyclones and droughts.

The COP is the supreme decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This the 25th edition organized and presided by Chile

This conference of the parties, or COP25, was due to be held in Chile but was cancelled by the government due to weeks of civil disturbances so Spain stepped in to host the event, which will see 29,000 attendees over the two weeks of talks.

Almost every country in the world has now signed and ratified the Paris climate agreement and under the terms of the pact they will all have to put new climate pledges on the table before the end of 2020.

What is COP?
The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the supreme decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This the 25th edition organized and presided by Chile is being held from tomorrow, December 2 until the 13th in Madrid, Spain, the 197 Parties that make up the treaty - 196 nations plus the European Union - will seek to move towards the implementation of the agreements that have been reached under the Convention that lays down
specific obligations for all Parties to fight climate change.

The first COP was held in Berlin in 1995. To date, 24 COPs have taken place, the last one in Katowice, Poland, in December 2018. The COP25 Presidency, which will be led by Minister Carolina Schmidt, starts in December 2019 and ends in December 2020.

More at: COP25 MADRID

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