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Opening of the 24th UN Climate Conference (COP24), Katowice, Poland, 2 December 2018. REUTERS / Kacper Pempel
COP 24 began Sunday in Katowice, Poland. The main challenge is to define a roadmap to comply with the Paris agreements on global warming. Polish President Andrzej Duda opens this Monday morning a political summit of one day. Summit shunned by the leading leaders of this world.
With our special correspondent in Katowice , Damien Simonart
The Grand Duke of Luxembourg, the Regent of San Marino, the President of Nauru, a small island in the Pacific, or Nepal ... the list of VIPs at COP 24 is certainly very varied, but difficult to find big names. On the European side, Edouard Philippe was undoubtedly the most important politician, but the French Prime Minister canceled his visit because of the crisis of "yellow vests".
While most European states will be represented at the ministerial level, Africa is better off with the presidents of Nigeria, Benin, Senegal, Botswana, Mauritania and Congo.
If the COP in Poland attracts so few heads of state, it is primarily because the world's leading leaders have just seen each other in Buenos Aires at the G20. In addition, they are waiting for the New York summit in September 2019 to reaffirm their ambitions. Their absence is however very detrimental to the image of Poland. The Polish government hoped to attract the world's elite and end up with an estimated bill of more than 60 million euros.