COP24 was held in Katowice (Poland) from December 2 to 14, 2018, and it had participation from all sorts of societal representatives: governments, businesses, etc.
The United Nations Conference on Climate Change, called COP, held its twenty-fourth meeting from December 2 to 14 in Katowice (Poland), which saw the participation of Valentín Alfaya, director of Quality, Prevention, and Environment, and Ana Peña, head of Quality, Environment, and Climate Change at Ferrovial.
This year’s conference was held with the goal of establishing the bases for an economic model free of carbon, thereby permitting the application of the Paris Accord. The list of topics discussed varied widely, including: transparency, adaptation, mitigation, “facilitative or Talanoa dialogue,” reducing emissions, funding, and the creation and transfer of capability and technology.
COP 24 came to a close after the deadline since the agreement was signed a day after it ended, given that there were many difficulties in finding common ground among all the countries. In the end, the agreement’s main points are: a fair transition towards a low-carbon economy, a call for Talanoa Dialogue, regulations for verifying follow-up on commitments, funding, and a follow-up system for the Transparency Framework of the Paris Accord.
After COP24 ended, Valentín Alfaya remarked that:
“We are clearly not moving forward quickly enough to mitigate the effects of climate change that scientists are predicting. So the only other option is accelerating the transition towards a low-carbon economy, which will also offer significant opportunities for businesses like ours.”
Ana Peña said,
“We businesses are making internal changes to reduce our emissions and adapt our infrastructure to the effects of climate change, and we are offering new products and services that will help achieve a low-carbon economy.”
Following tradition, when COP24 ended, Spanish experts on the issue of climate change met in Madrid last Tuesday, December 18, to discuss the Conference’s conclusions. Ferrovial had significant participation at this event. Valentín Alfaya was a speaker as a representative of the Spanish business community, given that he holds the Presidency of the Spanish Group for Green Growth, and Ana Peña did the same as a representative of Ferrovial, presenting the challenges that COP24 poses for our business, particularly emphasizing that the key is having greater ambition.
