Madrid to host COP 25

The Spanish capital city of Madrid will be hosting the world’s annual climate conference, called COP-25 (Conference of the Parties) from 2 to 13 December 2019. This decision was taken following Chile’s stepping down as host for the COP-25 event due to the ongoing street protests in South American country.

Key Highlights

The decision came just a day after the acting Spanish government issued a communique that indicated Spain would be willing to host the conference.  Later, the hosting country was confirmed by Patricia Espinosa, the executive secretary for UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The COP25 was earlier scheduled to take place in Santiago for two weeks from 3 December 2019.

What is Conference of the Parties (COP)?

The COP is the supreme decision-making body of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). All States that are Parties to Convention are represented at COP which meets every year, unless the Parties decide otherwise. The COP meets in Bonn (the seat of UNFCCC secretariat), unless a Party offers to host its session. The first COP meeting was held on March 1995 in Berlin, Germany.

At the COP the Parties review the implementation of Convention and any other legal instruments that COP adopts and take decisions necessary for promoting effective implementation of Convention, which includes institutional as well as administrative arrangements.

COP Presidency rotates among 5 recognized UN regions, namely, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western Europe and Others. There is also a tendency that the COP venue also shifts among these groups.

COP Conference: The annual summit is a key event which allows representatives from about 200 countries to monitor as well as discuss current situation of world’s warming climate.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2019