UN climate summit in Poland's Katowice prolonged: mayor

The United Nations’ COP24 event, which was originally scheduled to end on Friday, has been extended to Saturday, and it is possible that negotiations will continue into Sunday, Katowice Mayor Marcin Krupa told public broadcaster Polish Radio.

Delegates from almost 200 countries taking part in the conference have yet to finish work on a key declaration to sum up their almost two weeks of debates, Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

Thousands of decision makers from around the world have flocked to Katowice for the UN conference, which opened at the start of last week.

The 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as COP24, aims to adopt a roadmap for putting into practice the 2015 Paris climate agreement amid efforts to slow climate change, Polish Radio has reported.

Krupa told the Polish public broadcaster that the conference had drawn around 21,500 participants, according to host city data.

Speaking at the official opening of the summit on December 3, Polish President Andrzej Duda said his country was "ready to take its share of responsibility for international security," including in terms of climate policy.

Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told international leaders a day later that his country was among nations leading the way in efforts to stop global warming.

Leaders from 45 countries gathered at a UN climate change conference last week adopted a Polish-drafted declaration to protect the climate while ensuring economic growth and maintaining jobs, a news agency has reported.

A total of 65 countries on Wednesday supported the Polish-drafted “Forests for Climate” initiative, which aims to increase the role of forests in combating climate change.

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Source: IAR/PAP