The 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP25, is taking place this week in Madrid, Spain. 

One main aim of the conference is to lay solid foundations for 2020, which is a crucial year in which many nations will lay out their new climate action proposals. It is expected that at the end of COP25, the European Council will decide whether the European Union is going to target net zero carbon emissions by 2050. 

Jill Duggan, an associate fellow at Chatham House and an expert on climate and energy policy, spoke to CGTN about this year's event. She said "the balance of power is being transferred to younger people" in the climate battle. 

Speaking about the use of trade deals to keep countries in line with climate policies, Duggan said they "will become increasingly important because this is, as many have said, a climate emergency. 

"Seven million people marched in September about the climate emergency globally. This is something that the younger generation are taking a lot more seriously than their elders, and their elders are making decisions that, let's face it, they're not going to have to live with, and the balance of power is being transferred to younger people. 

The conference is taking place at the IFEMA – Feria de Madrid exhibition center after the event's original host, Chile, withdrew last month due to deadly riots over economic inequality.