UN Climate Change Conference
2-13 December 2019
Turning people power into political action
Despite ever worse real world impacts and increasing public momentum, global political action remains low.
2019 was a pivotal and powerful year for climate activism. Last year’s IPCC report was a wake-up call, and since then the energy and momentum behind the movement has built radically yet peacefully, culminating in a record-breaking seven million people in the streets this September.
The climate movement, and especially the youth, is changing the conversation.
This year’s COP comes on the back of the UN Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit, where leaders were asked to come with plans not speeches. Despite mounting calls for action, countries failed to step up with a level of ambition that met anywhere near the scale of the 1.5°C challenge, and the Summit delivered little to no progress.
Current country commitments are insufficient to limit heating to even 3°C. In a climate of global uncertainty and increased political polarisation, against a backdrop of global protests from communities feeling the pressure of inequalities that will be exacerbated by climate change, international cooperation is increasingly coming under pressure.
At COP25, Greenpeace expects that decision makers:
- Act urgently to enhance their climate action targets. Listen to the science, and outline a roadmap for NDC submissions in 2020
- Avoid riddling the Paris Agreement with carbon market loopholes
- Listen to the people, not to powerful extractive industries that block climate progress
- Ensure the costs of the energy transition are not passed down to the people, and that vulnerable communities are supported to react to climate impacts
Greenpeace’s expectations for the UN Climate Conference in Madrid, December 2019