The 25th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25, Presidency: Chile) in Madrid, Spain concluded around 2 p.m. on December 15th (local time), two days after the scheduled closing date (December 13th). 

This year's conference was joined by about 20,000 participants: government delegations from 196 parties to the UNFCCC, as well as representatives of industrial circles, civic organizations, and research institutes. Korea sent its delegation led by the Environment Minister Cho Myung-rae (head delegate) consisting of officials and experts from relevant government agencies* (Yoo Yeon-chul, Ambassador for Climate Change took the role of the head delegate later on). 

*Office for Government Policy Coordination, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Korea Forest Service, Korea Meteorological Administration, and Rural Development Administration

[Key results of COP25 and their meanings] 

The most important goal of this year's conference was reaching an agreement on global carbon markets to complete the 17 implementation guidelines* for the Paris Agreement, which was adopted in 2015.

*17 guidelines for 9 sectors, including limiting and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to climate impacts, transparency, markets, financing, and technology. At COP24, 16 guidelines for 8 sectors were adopted, besides the guideline for carbon markets**.

**The guideline on the methods of trading reduced greenhouse gas emissions among countries and applying the trading results to national greenhouse gas reduction targets

However, the agreement on the guideline for international carbon markets was not reached this time and it will have to be discussed again next year due to the conflicts (between developing and developed countries, or potential seller and buyer countries of reduced greenhouse gas emission credits) over many issues, including using some amount of the total carbon trading money to support developing countries, acknowledging the reduced greenhouse gas emissions credits issued before 2020 (mostly CDM), and prohibiting the repeated use of the same emission credit for multiple trading.

Furthermore, China and other major developing countries contended that the developed countries' implementation levels of the plans to reduce greenhouse gas and mobilize US$100 billion in climate finance by 2020 based on the Kyoto Protocol must be examined and evaluated prior to the transition to the Paris Agreement. As a result, it was agreed that the implementation levels of the plans before 2020 (pre-2020) will be examined for the next two years through relevant round table meetings and other methods.

As many developing countries expressed a strong dissatisfaction about the fulfillment levels of the pre-2020 plans for greenhouse gas reduction and financial assistance by developed countries, there was not enough progress of discussions on the major issues of this year's COP related to the implementation of the Paris Agreement (e.g., the transparency framework*, a common time frame for the implementation of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)**), and there will be further discussions on the issues at the next year's conference.

*An international reporting and reviewing framework on the amounts of greenhouse gas emission and absorption, and on the levels of implementation and achievement of the NDCs

**Various cycles (e.g., five years or ten years) are being considered as the time frame for the achievement of the NDCs

Meanwhile, it was agreed that the next conference (COP26) will be held in Glasgow, the U.K.

[Activities of the Korean delegation] 

Through his keynote speech at the High-level Segment on December 11th, Minister Cho Myung-rae (head delegate) introduced the will of the Korean government for the transition to a low carbon economy through various methods, including the renewal of the '2030 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)' and hosting of the second 'Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit' in Korea in 2020.

In addition, Minister Cho participated in the 'Ministerial Dialogue on Adaptation Ambition*' and the 'Ministerial-level Event on the Carbon Neutrality Coalition (CNC)' to share the achievements and will of Korea in responding to climate change, and actively promoted the second P4G Summit to be held in Korea through the 'Promotional Event for the Hosting of the Second P4G Summit in the Republic of Korea**' and bilateral meetings with Ministers of the U.K., Norway, and South Africa. 

*Ministerial Dialogue on Adaptation Ambition (December 10th): discussed the methods and best practices of increasing the finance and resources for climate change adaptation

**A global initiative to facilitate the achievements of climate change adaptation and sustainable development goals by supporting relevant joint projects between governments and private entities (established in September 2017). The first summit was held in Denmark in 2018.

In particular, during COP25, the Korean delegation not only actively participated in various negotiations but also attained meaningful achievements. Four government and private experts' in the delegation joined various committees or assumed a chairperson role of a committee, and it was decided that Korea will host a liaison office of a major climate change response organization. 

Yoo Yeon-chul, Ambassador for Climate Change of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was elected Vice-Chairperson of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation, Professor Yoo Seung-jik of Sookmyung Women's University was elected a founding member of the newly established 'Standing Committee on Implementation and Compliance of the Paris Agreement' to evaluate the implementation levels of the Paris Agreement, and Lee Jong-hun, Director of Green Climate Policy Division of the Ministry of Economy and Finance was elected a board member of the newly established 'Adaptation Fund' to support climate change adaptation projects of developing countries. Also, the reelection of Kang Su-il, Director General of Green Technology Center as a member of the Technology Executive Committee of the UNFCCC was ed and he will continue his participation in international discussions on climate change.

Finally, through a multilateral discussion, the Ministry of Science and ICT of Korea, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the Climate Technology Center and Network (CTCN), and the Incheon Metropolitan City agreed to establish the first liaison office of the CTCN in Songdo, Incheon in 2020, which will be in charge of the implementation of the Technology Mechanism of the UNFCCC.