The COP25 climate summit has ended. Despite record-breaking negotiations and a postponed deadline, an agreement on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement could not be adopted. Instead, the negotiations are postponed and the meeting's slogan "Time for action" is read with bitter irony.
The COP is an annual climate summit consisting of the countries that have signed the UNFCCC climate convention. This year, the meeting was held in Madrid under the name COP25 and expectations of the participating countries were high, especially regarding the negotiations on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Article 6 includes countries cooperating to reduce emissions through both market-based and non-market-based cooperation.
The market-based part of the cooperation includes, among other things, trading in emission rights and regulation of the accounting of emissions. The interpretation of the concept of environmental integrity also needed to be clarified during the climate summit. The countries could not agree on the various parts of Article 6, which led to these negotiations being postponed again until next year.
There is no doubt that these are important negotiations that should be carried out correctly in order for countries to be able to agree and achieve the global goal number 13 - to combat climate change. At the same time, the climate situation is very critical. Measurements from the day before yesterday, implemented by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), shows that the average carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere is 411,80 ppm (parts per million). This is an average increase of 2,1 ppm from last year. These are worrying figures that easily create the impression that the countries that have signed the climate convention do not understand the urgency of the environmental problems.
That Greta Thunberg receives the award "The Person of the Year" from the Times and that she has managed to get a worldwide movement behind her shows a great civil commitment to the environmental issue. Perhaps it is the case that people outside the negotiating rooms have understood the meaning of climate change better than those who are negotiating without achieving sustainable results.
The unfinished negotiations during COP25 mean that the countries of the world are sweeping Article 6 under the rug. There is not enough time - we cannot continue to postpone important decisions and hope that the environmental problems will resolve themselves. World leaders need to take responsibility, which begins with being able to negotiate common solutions to the greatest challenge of our time.
This is a chronicle. The author is responsible for analysis and opinions in the text.
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