Spain to host U.N. climate talks in December after Chile cancels

By  Trend

Spain will host U.N. climate change talks in December after Chile withdrew, the United Nations said on Friday, a last-minute switch which raises big logistical challenges and has left activist Greta Thunberg stranded on the wrong side of the Atlantic, reports Trend referring to Reuters.

The U.N. climate change talks, known formally as COP25, will be held Dec. 2-13, as originally planned, but in Madrid - over 10,000 kilometers (6,000 miles) away from Chile’s capital Santiago where it was initially meant to take place.

Chile's government on Wednesday announced here it was withdrawing as host of both the December climate summit and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit scheduled this month, after two weeks of riots over inequality in the South American country left at least 18 people dead.

“Excellent news: Madrid will host the Climate Summit on December 2-13,” Spain’s acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on Twitter. “Spain is working from now on to guarantee the organization of the #COP25.”

Alexander Saier, a spokesman for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said that the Spanish government would help expedite the issuance of visas and set up an agency to help organize the travel and accommodation of the roughly 25,000 people expected to attend.

“It is more important that the conference takes place, politically. I think it would have been not a good sign if the conference would have been canceled or postponed,” Saier said.