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UN Confirms Madrid as New Location for Climate Summit

Associated Press

   BERLIN - The United Nations global climate meeting next month will take
   place in Madrid rather than Chile, which had to bow out as host on
   short notice, officials said Friday.

   U.N. climate chief Patricia Espinosa said representatives of the body
   that organizes the annual conference had accepted Spain's offer to host
   it in the country's capital Dec. 2-13.

   Chilean President Sebastian Pinera announced Wednesday that he was
   canceling plans to host the meeting, as well as a summit of
   Asia-Pacific leaders, to focus on restoring security in his country
   following weeks of protests in which at least a dozen people have died.

   Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's office offered Thursday to step
   in,sending delegates from around the world scrambling to change their
   travel plans.

   Sanchez, who is facing a national election Nov. 10, celebrated Friday's
   decision.

   ``Excellent news: Madrid will host the global climate meeting from Dec.
   2-13. Spain is already at work to guarantee its staging of COP25. Our
   government firmly keeps its commitment to lasting progress and a just
   ecological transition,'' Sanchez wrote on Twitter.

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