Chile Cancels Climate Summit in Santiago Amid Wave of Protests
The Chilean government won’t host the United Nations climate change conference, the COP25, set for December, President Sebastian Pinera said.
Chile also canceled the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that was scheduled to be held in Santiago next month after a wave of protests and riots stretched security forces to the limit.
“We understand perfectly the importance of APEC and COP for Chile and the world, but we have based our decision on common sense,” Pinera said from the presidential palace. “A president needs to put its people above everything else.”
U.S. President Donald Trump had said he would sign a preliminary trade accord with China’s Xi Jinping at the Nov. 16-17 summit. Chile’s decision to cancel the meeting highlights the depth of trouble facing the Latin American nation that has seen the worst unrest in a generation. Until just two days ago, the government had insisted it would go ahead with the summit.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was notified by the Chilean government that it’s withdrawing as host of the COP25 climate change summit, U.N. climate change executive secretary Patricia Espinosa said in a statement. The U.N. is currently exploring alternative hosting options.
Pinera said the government had spoken to other presidents to warn them of the cancellation.
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