(Bloomberg) -- Spain has swooped in with an offer to host the world's largest climate summit after Chile canceled it in the face of widespread riots.
The invitation to move the United Nations' COP25 conference to Madrid may save the event, scheduled for December. UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said she hoped the conference's board would consider Spain's offer as soon as possible.
“It is encouraging to see countries working together in the spirit of multilateralism to address climate change,” Espinosa said in a statement.
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said his nation would still chair the event.
Canceling the summit would be major blow for efforts to fight climate change as the impacts of rising temperatures become more dire. This week, wildfires in California have displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
Scuttling the event would also sap momentum from a movement after millions protested worldwide last month and 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg chided world leaders for not acting forcefully enough to save the planet.
Chile's Pinera canceled his country's plans to host the conference as riots continue to erupt over economic inequality. Chile itself is grappling with the driest decade on record, and the government has taken emergency measures to survive an unprecedented drought.
The gathering was originally planned for Brazil, but far-right president Jair Bolsonaro pulled the country out of hosting it, citing budgetary restraints.
To contact the reporter on this story: Gerson Freitas Jr. in New York at gfreitasjr@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Joe Ryan, Joe Richter
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