The city of Katowice was today announced by the Government of Poland as the venue for the 2018 UN Climate Change Conference, or “COP 24”.
Poland was chosen as the upcoming President by the Eastern European Group, whose turn it is to host the conference following Asia-Pacific in 2017.
Several potential locations were considered by the Polish authorities as the host city for the event – which will be the fourth time that Poland has presided over a UN climate change conference.
Two previous Conferences of the Parties (COPs) were held in Poland – COP 14 in Poznań, in 2008, and COP 19 in Warsaw, in 2013. Poland also presided over COP 5 in Bonn in 1999.
Today Polish Environment Minister Prof. Jan Szysko chose the occasion of a visit to Poland by Patricia Espinosa, the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to announce that the southwestern city of Katowice has been given the green light.
Ms. Espinosa said: “I would to like to thank the Government of Poland for agreeing to host COP 24 as part of the Eastern European Group and look forward to working with Minister Jan Szysko and his team to make the conference a success on all fronts.”
“2018 will be another important year for international climate diplomacy as nations move forward to implement the Paris Climate Change Agreement – indeed 2018 is when governments are expected to reach some key milestones,” she said.
“These range from finalizing the guidelines for fully operationalizing the agreement to taking stock of how countries are doing collectively in terms of being on track to realize Paris’s aims and ambitions over the coming years and decades,” added Ms. Espinosa.
Ms. Espinosa was today shown a research centre in Toruń where the Government of Poland is scientifically monitoring how forests absorb carbon. Forest protection is a key part of efforts to address climate change.
“Better managing, conserving and expanding of forests is going to play a crucial role in meeting the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Indeed, we will need to see transitions across all sectors and all economies if the full potential of the Agreement is to be realized over the 21st century,” she added.
Ms. Espinosa said she looked forward to joining with the people of Poland to realize a successful conference that pushes forward the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
