Minnesotans in the mix at UN climate summit in Madrid

Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change Patricia Espinosa kicked off this final week of the COP25 climate summit in Madrid by urging delegates to lay the groundwork needed to make progress on the Paris climate goals starting next year.

“Each year at the COP, we’re told that window of opportunity could close soon. Ministers, the window of opportunity is closing now,” she said. “We need your decisions. We need your leadership. We are out of time.”

The summit comes on the heels of new research showing the earth has continued to warm, and just ahead of 2020, when signatories on the Paris accord promised to reverse emissions trends.

So what kinds of decisions do leaders need to make at this summit?

Sarah Goodspeed is the youth and policy manager at Minnesota’s Climate Generation, and spoke with Climate Cast from the meetings in Madrid.

“Well, there are a lot of different working groups trying to work out the rule book on the Paris agreement,” Goodspeed said. “So this includes how countries will be counting their emissions reductions, what kinds of projects count, and what kinds of regulations those projects need in order to safeguard communities and to effectively reduce emissions, rather than just counting projects that folks may already be doing.”

To hear more from Goodspeed, including how youth and indigenous communities are speaking out at the summit, hit play on the audio player above.

Follow all of the Minnesota delegates in Madrid this week using #MNCOP25 on Twitter.