COP24 conference in Katowice

Basic facts about the COP24 conference in Katowice 02 Dec 2018:

The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Katowice is a huge venture which many parties are involved in, bringing together hundreds of people working for the final success. Below we present facts illustrating the scale of this undertaking.

Almost 30 000 participants will come to Katowice at COP24. Guests from all over the world will be supported by 500 volunteers. Participants will have at their disposal 8 conference zones, including plenary rooms, press conference rooms, meeting rooms and several hundred other rooms like offices, computer centres, places to work and relax. Therefore, we can speak about the real "city in the city".

Nearly 2000 people worked on the construction and arrangement of the conference area - employees of the Poznan International Fair and subcontractors. It means there would be no space enough for all of them on a Warsaw subway train at once.

COP24 will generate a carbon footprint of 55,000 tonnes of CO2. To balance this emission, the State Forests will additionally plant more than 6 million trees (i.e. twice as many as in Central Park in New York City).

All registered participants are allowed to use free public transportation in Katowice and Silesian District.

The UN’s top climate change official reminded the audience that the Paris Agreement has been ratified by 170 countries so far, only two years after it was adopted. “We have resources, we have solutions, we have the political will. There is still a small window of opportunity. It’s not very big and it won’t last very long, but it is there,” noted Ms. Espinosa (UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa), while discussing the possibility of meeting the Paris Agreement’s goals on temperature. She is optimistic about the UN Climate Change Conference (COP24).

The Executive Secretary emphasized the importance of agriculture and land use in the fight against climate change. “Over 90% of NDCs, the countries’ National Climate Action Plans , touch on agriculture. But we need to look at agriculture in the light of the Sustainable Development Goal number 2, Zero Hunger. It’s not about reducing emissions by producing less food; it’s about finding creative solutions to address both issues at the same time.” Ms. Espinosa also talked about smart agriculture as an example of a better, more efficient way of producing food whilst using fewer resources.

Marco Alverà, who heads the initiative GasNaturally and gave his initial remarks at the event, drew attention to the role of natural gas in the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Ms. Espinosa underlined the importance of having an open and objective conversation on the role of fossil fuels in the transition towards a carbon neutral world. “Realities are so different from country to country, or even within certain countries. We need to be more specific about the solutions. In many cases, natural gas has been and will be one of the sources of energy in this transition,” the Executive Secretary said.

The Planetary Approach towards the climate changes is the need of the hour. “We all are positive about the decisions taken at this COP24 conference” states the General Director of Planetary Development Institution Dr. Aleksandr Bezgodov in Dubai (UAE). More can be read about important decisions taken in the given conference in near future on the portal www.planetaryproject.com.