HRH Grand Duke Henri with HM the King of Spain in Madrid;
Credit: © Cour grand-ducale / Sophie Margue
At the end of the opening ceremony of the COP25 that took place on Monday in Madrid, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Luxembourg attended a reception offered by Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain at the Royal Palace of Madrid.
To close this first day in Madrid, the Grand Duke attended the 425th anniversary of the Carlos de Amberes Foundation, a cultural institution and formerly a haven for underprivileged travellers from the Spanish Netherlands, to which Luxembourg belonged at that time. At the commemorative ceremony, the "Medalla de Honor" was presented to Don Florencio Lasaga, President of the Fundación Ramón Areces.
On Tuesday, the Grand Duke attended a working meeting, addressing climate change and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. On this occasion, Dr. Andrew Ferrone, Chief of Service of the Meteorological Committee of Luxembourg andLuxembourg’s representative to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), presented the three IPCC reports related to 1.5 degrees, land use and the oceans and the cryosphere.
Dr. André Weidenhaupt, first government adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Development, then gave a presentation on the multilateral evaluation of Luxembourg's climate change policy and the challenges of its implementation.
In addition, Cristina Gallach, High Commissioner of the Government of Spain for the 2030 Agenda, briefed the Grand Duke on the implementation approach of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development in Spain. The discussion focused both on the economic, social and environmental aspects of this policy and on the positive Spanish-Luxembourgish collaboration and the exchange of good practices on the subject both at the European and the international level.
The Grand Duke was later received at La Zarzuela, the private residence of the Spanish monarchs, for a private luncheon with the King of Spain.
To close his trip to Madrid, Grand Duke Henri visited the royal botanical garden, which houses plants from Europe, America and the Pacific across three terraces.
