Madrid, Oct. 2 (EFE) – Spanish Vice President and Acting Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, said on Monday the nearly 40 governments attending the Climate and Energy Summit in Madrid agreed that “we are not on track” to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement but that “countries can ensure compliance by joining efforts.”
The Spanish official spoke in a press conference at the end of the summit promoted on Monday in Madrid by the national government and the International Energy Agency (IAE).
This was the last multilateral meeting on climate and energy that will take place before COP28 and has ended with “high expectations” for the UN summit in Dubai.
The director of the IEA, Fatih Birol, feels “very optimistic” after confirming the “convergence of governments from different continents, economies and social spheres.”
Birol believes that COP28 will be “a successful summit,” and in his opinion, there are five key outcomes that should come out of it: countries agree to double improvements in energy efficiency, triple renewable energy capacity, reduce the use of fossil fuels, and provide financial support to developing and emerging countries.
“Although we are not on the right path to achieve the Paris goal, we are in a position to ensure that it is achieved, provided that we redouble our efforts and send key messages to accelerate the process,” said Ribera.
The minister stressed that “it is essential that there is no new exploitation of fossil fuels, especially coal, and even less if they do not have capture systems that aim to eliminate emissions.”
She said this issue “feels like part of the debate” and that all the countries at the meeting supported it.
“The fact that the pace has not been fast enough is not a reason to stop. On the contrary, it’s a reason to speed up,” Ribera stressed.
The summit was attended by representatives of the European Commission, the United States, Uruguay, Switzerland, Sweden, Slovakia, South Africa, Portugal, New Zealand, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Kenya, Italy, Ireland, Indonesia, Hungary, Greece, Germany, France, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Brazil, Belgium, Austria and the Comoros, as well as the UN, the IEA and the COP28 presidency, the United Arab Emirates. EFE
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