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Climate summit chair: 'Wrong side of history' awaits those who refuse to address climate change

Nearly 200 nations are taking part in the summit, which comes amid growing global calls for immediate action for fear of passing a point of no return.
Credit: AP
FILE - This early Friday, Aug. 16, 2019 file photo shows an aerial view of large Icebergs floating as the sun rises near Kulusuk, Greenland. Greenland has been melting faster in the last decade, and this summer, it has seen two of the biggest melts on record since 2012. A special United Nations-affiliated oceans and ice report released on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2019 projects three feet of rising seas by the end of the century, much fewer fish, weakening ocean currents, even less snow and ice, and nastier hurricanes, caused by climate change. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

MADRID, Spain — The chair of a two-week climate summit attended by nearly 200 countries warned at its opening Monday that those refusing to adjust to the planet’s rising temperatures “will be on the wrong side of history.”

Chile’s environment minister, Carolina Schmidt, said that the Dec. 2-13 meeting in Madrid needs to lay the groundwork for moving toward carbon neutral economies while being sensitive to the poorest and those most vulnerable to rising temperatures — something that policymakers have termed “just transition.”

“Those who don't want to see it will be on the wrong side of history,” she said, calling on governments to make more ambitious pledges to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases ahead of a deadline to do so next year.

The summit, which moved to the Spanish capital after Chile had to pull out amid anti-government protests, aims to put the finishing touches to the rules governing the 2015 Paris accord.

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That involves creating a functioning international emissions-trading system and compensating poor countries for losses they suffer from rising sea levels and other consequences of climate change.

“We have a common challenge but with differentiated needs and urgencies, which we can only overcome if we work together,” said Schmidt as her country took over the chairing of the meeting from Poland.

Countries agreed in Paris four years ago to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), ideally 1.5C (2.7F) by the end of the century compared with pre-industrial times. Already, average temperatures have increased by about 1C, leaving little room for the more ambitious target to be met.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that pledges to reduce emissions of gases responsible for rising temperatures are so far are insufficient to overcome the “point of no return” in climate change.

“What is lacking is political will,” Guterres told reporters on the eve of the COP25 meeting.

Organizers expect around 29,000 visitors to the meeting, including around 50 heads of state and government for Monday’s opening session.

Except for the European Union’s newly sworn-in leadership, which was due to begin a five-year term by paying a visit to the summit, the rest of the world’s largest carbon emitters — the United States, China and India — are sending ministerial or lower-level officials to the meeting.

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