Nearly 200 countries attend ambitious climate summit
COP25 TALKS ‘We are still in it,’ says House speaker Pelosi, in spite of US pulling out of Paris accord
MADRID: The chair of a two-week climate summit attended by nearly 200 countries warned at its opening on Monday that those refusing to adjust to the planet’s rising temperatures “will be on the wrong side of history.”
Chile’s environment minister, Carolina Schmidt, said the December 2-13 meeting in Madrid needs to lay the groundwork for moving toward carbonneutral economies while being sensitive to the poorest and those most vulnerable to rising temperatures — something that policymakers have termed “just transition.”
“Those who don’t want to see it will be on the wrong side of history,” she said, calling on governments to make more ambitious pledges to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases ahead of a deadline to do so next year. The summit, which moved to the Spanish capital after Chile had to pull out amid anti-government protests, aims to put the finishing touches to the rules governing the 2015 Paris accord.
Except for the European Union’s newly sworn-in leadership, which was due to begin a five-year term by paying a visit to the summit, the rest of the world’s largest carbon emitters — the US, China and India — are sending ministerial or lowerlevel officials to the meeting.
The US delegation is led by Ambassador Marcia Bernicat, a senior Department official. That’s because the procedures to quit the Paris accord initiated last month by the administration of President Donald Trump won’t be technically completed until November 4, 2020. But Democratic members of Congress led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the nation remains committed to the 2015 agreement’s goals.
“We’re still in it,” said Pelosi, adding that climate change poses a threat to public health, the economy and national security.
GRETA THUNBERG IS SAILING TO VENUE
LISBON: Swedish teen eco-warrior Greta Thunberg was nearing the Portuguese coast on Monday after crossing the Atlantic in a catamaran to attend a UN climate change summit in Madrid, her entourage said.
Thunberg, 16, has become the face of young peoples’ demands for climate action and made a point of making the journey back from September’s New York climate summit by sea rather than fuel-guzzling plane.
She had expected to be heading for Chile, but the South American nation passed the hosting of the COP25 summit meeting to Spain after suffering a spate of deadly anti-government protests.
Rather than besmirch her status as an environmental activist by taking a carbon emissionsheavy air trip, Thunberg instead set sail on the 14-metre La Vagabonde catamaran on November 13 from Hampton, Virginia to return to Europe.
Thunberg, British navigator Nikki Henderson and the Australian family who own the vessel were expected to arrive in Portugal’s capital Lisbon at around on Tuesday after a voyage of more than 5,500 kilometres.