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As the United Nations climate summit known as Conference of the Parties 25 resumes this week in Madrid, AP reports activists and scientists attending the conference are changing how they eat and travel to reduce their own contributions to global carbon emissions.
Limiting flying and meat consumption are key personal choices being highlighted as solutions to the global issue. Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg traveled to the summit by boat and train following a last-minute location change caused by Chile withdrawing as the original host nation amid riots over inequality that left at least 18 people dead.
Representatives from nearly 200 countries at COP25 are fleshing out specific guidelines for participating countries to cooperate and achieve goals drafted in the landmark Paris Climate Agreement, announced four years ago this month. Politico reports the “main thrust” of the summit is creating a global carbon market, something called for in Article 6 of the Paris deal, which called for countries to build a framework for investing in carbon-friendly technologies and establishing the market.
Outside the summit, thousands of young activists flooded Madrid streets to demand action. In a statement, Spain’s acting minister for the ecological transition weighed in on the protesters’ message: “We need to do more, we cannot allow ourselves to lose more decades, years, and weeks.”
Meanwhile, the United States formally began the process of withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement Nov. 4. “The withdrawal will take effect one year from delivery of the notification,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
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