Highlights and images for 12 December 2019

On the penultimate day of COP 25, a sign in the corridors reminds delegates of the urgency of reaching a positive outcome.

The pace of the Chile/Madrid Climate Change slowed for many delegates on its penultimate day. Parties-only consultations continued on several issues, putting considerable work on some high-ranking delegates’ shoulders while others were left on the sidelines.In the morning, a stocktaking session gave all delegates an opportunity to catch up on closed-door discussions. Ministers provided updates, with varying level of detail, on the negotiations on:

Article 6 (market and non-market mechanisms);
Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts (WIM);
Response measures; and
The outcome decisions for this meeting.

For issues under the purview of the COP Presidency, namely the periodic review of the long-term global goal, gender, and the Consultative Group of Experts (CGE), the COP President was clear that these should be agreed to by the evening. She encouraged parties to have finance-related issues ready by Thursday evening so that they could be agreed upon the next day.When plenary convened in the evening, some issues had been finalized. The COP adopted decisions, including on the terms of reference for the CGE. Decisions forwarded from the subsidiary bodies on Monday, 9 December were adopted, as were procedural decisions.Leaving the venue, tired delegates grasped at the chance of a few hours’ sleep, despite not knowing when a plenary session might reappear on Friday’s schedule.For more details on the day’s negotiations and to hear what delegates said in the corridors, see our daily Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB).

Presidency Stocktaking Plenary

After several days of negotiations taking place in closed and informal settings, plenary is filled to capacity as Carolina Schmidt, COP 25 President, Chile, convenes the Presidency stocktaking.

James Shaw, Minister for Climate Change, New Zealand

Isabella Lövin, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister for Environment and Climate, Sweden

Simon Stiell, Minister of Climate Resilience, the Environment, Forestry, Fisheries, Disaster Management and Information, Grenada

Teresa Ribera, Minister for the Ecological Transition, Spain

Mohamed Nasr, Egypt, speaking on behalf of the African Group

Nicole Wilke, EU

Hussain Rasheed Hassan, Minister of Environment, Maldives

Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Singapore

Tenzin Wangmo, Bhutan, speaking on behalf of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)

Gary William Theseira, Malaysia, speaking on behalf of the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDCs)

Closing Plenaries: Part 1

View of the dais during the first part of the COP closing plenary.

Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) Chair Emmanuel Dlamini, eSwatini

Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) Chair Paul Watkinson, France

Xiaofeng Guo, China

Carolina Schmidt, COP 25 President, Chile

UN Heads of Organizations Leadership Dialogue: Turning the Tide on Deforestation

UN Heads of Organizations participate in an interactive leadership dialogue to discuss solutions for the achievement of zero net deforestation.

Liu Zhenmin, Under-Secretary-General, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA)

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa

Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson, the Global Environment Facility (GEF)

UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw

Moderator Yugratna Srivastava, Youth NGOs (YOUNGOs)

Qu Dongyu, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)

Achim Steiner, Administrator, UN Development Programme (UNDP)

UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Inger Andersen

Informal Consultations

Delegates participate in a technical drafting group on the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts (WIM).

Delegates attend a briefing by the Special Envoy for the UN Secretary-General's 2019 Climate Action Summit on the outcomes of the Summit.

Delegates during the Presidency consultations on the report and terms of reference of the Consultative Group of Experts.

Civil Society Demonstrations

'SustainaClaus and the Sustainies' sing the 'Panic Song' to remind people about the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), encouraging people to shop locally and to 'not feed the carbon monster' this Christmas season.