From today Chile’s Environment Minister, Carolina Schmidt, presides the Conference of the Parties that will run for the next two weeks in Madrid.
December 2, 2019- Madrid – The opening ceremony started with COP24 President, Michal Kurtyka, handing over the leadership of the Conference of the Parties to Environment Minister Carolina Schmidt. Accompanied by UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa, Schmidt highlighted in her first speech as COP25 President that she accepts the role in representation of Latin America and the Caribbean. “We must promote a fair transition, without leaving anyone behind. This is the real transformation to sustainable and inclusive development. Those that don’t want to see that will end up on the wrong side of history. COP25 has a clear objective: it´s time to act. This is not a slogan. It’s a necessity. It’s a moral, social and economic requirement,” Schmidt said in her opening speech. Afterwards, in front of more than 30 heads of State, Schmidt opened the floor to the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, who emphasised that “the battle against the climate emergency requires courage and determination, solidarity and leadership, and, above all, achievements – moving from words to action.” Sánchez then highlighted Chile’s leadership: “These days, Madrid will also be the capital of Chile. This is Chile’s COP. It is Chile that has organised this summit with a great showing of strength and leadership; and it is Chile that has promoted the Climate Action Alliance, by having chosen an appropriate universal perspective.” For his part, United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, supported Sánchez by highlighting the collaboration between the governments of Chile and Spain. “Such solidarity and flexibility are what we need in the race to beat the climate emergency. We stand at a critical juncture in our collective efforts to limit dangerous global warming,” he said. Participating by video link, Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera assured that “Chile’s commitment in the fight against global warming is firm, clear and permanent. For that reason, it hurts not to be in Madrid today. But I feel that my duty is to be in Chile addressing the hard times that we have gone through.” Hoesung Lee, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group of experts that advises the UN in climate change matters, asserted that “rising temperatures threaten our existence on the planet. Our reports show that the impacts of warming are much more serious than we previously thought. An immediate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is needed if we want to stabilise the climate”.