The Ministry of the Environment has expressed its gratitude to the Autonomous Communities of the Canary Islands and Andalusia for the presentation of the candidacies of Fuerteventura and Roquetas, respectively, as venues for the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which will finally be held in Madrid, during the autumn of 2007.

In the meeting held a few days ago between this Ministry and the delegation of the United Nations Secretariat, the proposals made by both Autonomous Communities and the support given by various bodies to their candidacies were valued in an extraordinarily positive way. The Delegation of the United Nations Secretariat had made a series of suggestions to the Spanish Government on the requirements that the city aspiring to host the COP must meet, including logistical factors such as adequate transport and telecommunications infrastructures, as well as requirements in terms of accessibility, facilities and diplomatic services

The need to have important diplomatic support for the dignitaries of the more than one hundred and eighty countries that will attend the Conference and the experience and organizational and management infrastructure required for the successful celebration of a United Nations Conference, has led the organizers to decide on Madrid as the future venue for COP 8.

The objective of this international meeting is to analyze the world situation and seek solutions to mitigate the desertification processes that the planet is experiencing.