Ecology and the Madrid Summit.

As we wait for Greta’s arrival, here are the headlines from the Climate Summit in Madrid.

From El País in English here: ‘Pedro Sánchez at COP25 climate summit in Spain: “Only a handful of fanatics deny the evidence”. Spain’s caretaker government has stepped in to host the event against a global backdrop of weakened environmental leadership’. Extract: ‘...The summit brings together over 25,000 delegates from around 200 countries from December 2 to 13, and seeks to reach agreements to tackle the effects of global warming and keep it within manageable limits...’. Among them, and welcome, is the US Democrat leader Nancy Pelosi: ‘US Congress commits to act on climate crisis, despite Donald Trump. Pelosi tells UN conference in Madrid that commitment is iron-clad’.

There is all to play for: ‘COP25 in Madrid: UN Secretary-General Guterres says planet is 'close to a point of no return'. Found at EuroNews here (with video).

Inevitably, ‘Vox accuses the left of using climate change to change "our way of life"’. An article at El Español here includes the claim from the party that ‘..."We are here because we represent more than 3.5 million people and to keep a close eye on the extreme left, because we all have to pay for this and many dangerous claims are being said for the future of Spain," the Vox spokesperson Iván Espinosa de los Monteros added. He also blamed the left for the summit being held in Madrid and not in Chile...’ (!).  Beyond the posturing of Vox, Climate obstructionalism is strong in Spain, says ElDiario.es here: ‘...A new climate denial has found ways to continue filtering its discourse: from boycotting international agreements to taking advantage of bad economic streaks to put impediments in actions against the global warming of the Earth. Climate discourse is admitted, but not the incorporation of the main measure claimed by science: to cut CO2 emissions...’.

From the financial sector comes The Corner where we read ‘Two things to watch out for at COP25 (and why climate stocks could benefit)’. These apparently are emission-trading schemes and an expected range of updates to countries’ individual targets, known as nationally determined contributions.

Because there are powerful interests rallied against action against Climate Change (what could be the upside, no one knows), here are thirteen fake news items planted in the public eye on the subject with Maldito Bulo here.

‘The effects of longer summers in Spain: Temperature rises of up to two degrees in cities, uncontrolled CO2 emissions, disappearance of glaciers, changes in species distribution, appearance of invasive exotic animals and plants or alterations in bird migrations, among other effects, show Spain's high degree of vulnerability to climate change, says the Sustainability Observatory in a complete study presented last week...’. From El País here.

The coastline of Almería stands to be affected by climate change, says the local paper, with an average loss of two metres of beach within the next twenty years, taking away some 440 square kilometres of playa from the province.   

Endesa, Spain’s leading polluter, bought the front pages of the main newspapers on Monday, the first day of the COP25. From El Salto Diario here: ‘"Endesa presents, at the COP25 in Madrid, its solutions for an emission-free society." The same title ran above the fold of the printed editions of newspapers such as ABC, El País, El Mundo, La Vanguardia, El Correo, Expansión, La Voz de Galicia and 20 Minutos among others. Whether oriented to the centre or rather towards the right, all those newspaper editors coincidentally decided on the same story for their leaders on the first day of the 25th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Coincidence? Free-choice? Worthy news? Corporate sponsors?