It expresses the "urgent need" for these new commitments of the countries to bridge the existing gap in relation to the objective of Paris, to avoid a temperature rise above 1.5 degrees.
The decision was possible after an intense day of negotiations and after the Chilean presidency of the COP appointed the Minister for the Ecological Transition in office, Teresa Ribera, facilitator of three key points of the negotiation: greater ambition, Loss Mechanism and Damage to the impacts of climate change and financing, at dawn on Sunday, December 15.
"Chile-Madrid Time to Act" claims that this process of activation of ambition, which starts in just 15 days, must be consistent with what Science says and with what young people demand in the street.
Countries must submit climate commitments before the next Glasgow climate summit, so that the United Nations can prepare a Synthesis Report prior to COP26 indicating where we are with respect to the objective of the Paris Agreement to keep the planet's temperature below 1.5ºC.
"The mandate is clear: the countries have to present more ambitious national contributions than the current ones in 2020, it is important to respond to the demands of the people and Science, and commit ourselves to do faster and faster," said the minister to the Ecological Transition in operation, Teresa Ribera.
Boosting the action of non-governmental actors
Ministry for Ecological TransitionThe final decision adopted by the almost 200 countries that are part of the UN Climate Convention recognizes the importance of climate action by non-governmental actors, invites them to increase their action in the fight against climate change and generalize strategies weather compatible.
Held with an already agreed governance framework (the Paris Agreement and its Book of Rules), COP25 has been the first climate summit of a new cycle, in which the key is in the implementation, that is, in which all the actors do faster and faster, as reflected in the final approved result.
"This document is the basis that allows us to act now. The time for action is now," Ribera stressed at the conclusion of the meeting. "The COPs are no longer just a forum for setting rules, the new phase we have started in Madrid requires more action and more actors," he added.
"The result of the summit reflects that what we wanted with the Paris Agreement is happening: the different sectors are taking action. Many of them have come to show why they want to associate with the decarbonization process, be part of it and make it go faster, "said the minister.
In addition, COP25 has confirmed that the fight against climate change is a cross-cutting issue, and sectoral ministers from all over the world have revealed in Madrid that they assume the climate agenda as their own in their areas of activity.
In these two weeks there have been high-level meetings in the field of finance, science, industry, energy, transport, forests and agriculture, among others.
Market mechanisms
Likewise, countries are set to work on the design of market mechanisms in the next COP that avoid double counting, that serve the ambition of the Paris Agreement and that guarantee the environmental integrity of the system.
Loss and damage mechanism
Countries have agreed to give guidelines to the Green Fund to expand its scope of financing, and that, in addition to addressing mitigation and adaptation, for the first time allocate resources for the losses and damages suffered by the most vulnerable countries affected by the impacts of Extreme weather events. In addition, the Santiago Network is born that will allow to catalyze technical assistance from organizations and experts to these vulnerable countries, thus improving their capacity to respond to the effects of warming.
This was one of the most demanded issues by small island states that suffer more directly from the most severe impacts of climate change.
Gender plan
At COP25, negotiators have agreed on a new Gender Action Plan that will allow developing measures to respond to the unequal effect of climate change on women and girls, and to promote their role as agents of change in this process towards an emission-free world.
This new Plan, which will be in force until 2025 -when it will have to be reviewed-, aims to achieve more participation of women in international negotiation, and assure them of an active role in national decision-making.
Claim of multilateralism and science
Ministry for Ecological TransitionDespite obstacles, multilateralism and Science have been imposed at COP25, whose agreement claims that scientific knowledge is the main axis that should guide decisions in the face of climate change and the increase in the ambition of countries and other countries. sectors.
Recognizes that climate action must be permanently updated based on the advances of Science, as well as the role of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in providing countries with the best knowledge so they can strengthen its capacity to respond to the climatic emergency, and thanks the two special reports published in 2019 on land use and oceans.
"COP25 is a reaffirmation of the value of multilateralism and international cooperation to solve a global challenge such as climate change," said the minister. "Even in complex global contexts, COP25 has not dropped the climate agenda at a fundamental time for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. On the contrary, it has exhibited an activist multilateralism," he added.
The social dimension, protagonist
The social dimension of the climate agenda has played a leading role in this COP25 for the first time. The discussions in Madrid have reflected that people, their concerns and their future must be at the center of the response to the climate crisis. And to face this challenge is also to move towards a model of prosperity based on inclusion and equity.
The text reflects the "imperative" that the transition to an emission-free world must be fair, and promote the creation of decent and quality employment.
"There can be no policies of decarbonization without climate justice, without justice between generations, and without justice within the same generation: women and girls, vulnerable workers and consumers or people living in places that will be greatly impacted by warming," he said. indicated.
Oceans and land uses
In response to the IPCC special reports published during 2019, the Climate Convention will hold a dialogue on oceans and another on land use a June 2020 session. The text also underlines the role of nature-based solutions to help meet the objective of 1.5ºC and the need to address the loss of biodiversity and the fight against climate change with a comprehensive approach.
Some milestones of climate action at COP25
- The EU has managed, in the less than 15 days after the new Commission was formed, to activate an ambitious package of measures to deal with the climate emergency, through its New Green Pact (Green New Deal); commit to climate neutrality in 2050 and convert the European Investment Bank (EIB) into a "Climate Bank", which will allow the release of one billion euros of investment over the next decade. In addition, the EIB has announced that it will stop financing projects related to fossil fuels in 2021.
- About twenty Spanish banks, some of which have a prominent global weight, agreed to align with the Paris Agreement.
- The Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action formed by 51 countries, including Spain, has signed the Santiago Action Plan, which commits to introduce climate change in their economic and financial policies towards low or no growth in emissions.
- The Inter-American Development Bank has announced the creation of a Network of Central Banks and Supervisors: an international platform to achieve a green financial system globally.
- The Adaptation Fund managed to mobilize a total of 89 million dollars during this COP from several countries, including Spain.
- COP25 has doubled the number of investment funds that have pledged to make their portfolios neutral in emissions as soon as possible, moving from portfolios totaling $ 2.4 trillion during the New York Climate Summit to 4 billion at COP25.
- The number of multinationals committed to being carbon neutral in 2050 has doubled, from 90 at the New York Climate Summit to 177 at COP25. In size, these companies employ more than 5.8 million people.
- The number of large cities committed to climate neutrality in 2050 has increased from 100 at the New York summit to 398 during COP25.
- Although the Paris Agreement sets the year 2020 for the presentation of more ambitious commitments by countries, this year 73 states have committed to being carbon neutral in 2050, including Spain. To achieve this, our country has set itself to reduce one in three tons of CO2 in the next decade, doubling the final consumption of renewable energy in 2030.
- More than 80 countries have already announced that they will present commitments to combat climate change (NDC) that are more ambitious than the current ones to the Paris Agreement in 2020.