Europe ‘disappointed’ with COP25’s mediocre outcome

(EurActiv, 16 Dec 2019) Sixteen days of negotiations were not enough to find common ground on international carbon trading rules, one of the main issues of contention at the COP25 climate summit in Madrid. EURACTIV France reports.

A minimum agreement was finally reached after over two weeks of talks, as parties to the Paris Climate Agreement got together in Madrid to negotiate the final details of the treaty.

Their main task was to finalise Article 6 of the treaty dealing with international carbon trading. However, a final deal was postponed until 2020, amid squabbles over the details of CO2 accounting rules, which revealed a rift between countries supporting greater ambition and those happy with the status quo.

The rest of the text reflects a weak call on parties to be more ambitious in their 2020 climate commitments, which under the Paris deal must be submitted before next year’s COP26.

Even COP President Carolina Schmidt from Chile acknowledged that the conference had “remained indebted to the planet,” while UN secretary general António Guterres did not hide his disappointment.

The European Commission and German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze also expressed frustration that the summit had not succeeded in taking climate action forward.

“It is disappointing that after years of hard work and especially during the last two weeks that we could not agree on Article 6,” the EU delegation said in a statement. “We think, however, that we came much closer to agreement than previously, and this is something that we can build on in our future deliberation,” it added.

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EurActiv, 16 Dec 2019: Europe ‘disappointed’ with COP25’s mediocre outcome