Chile pulled out of hosting the COP25 Climate Change Conference on Wednesday, following two weeks of protests in the hosting city of Santiago. The announcement throws preparations for the conference, scheduled for December, into disarray for the second time, after Brazil withdrew its request to host the 2019 conference late last year.

It casts a shadow over the efforts of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterrez to ramp up climate action in the wake of the UN Climate Action Summit in New York City in September.

“Earlier today, I was informed of the decision by the Government of Chile not to host COP25 in view of the difficult situation that the country is undergoing. We are currently exploring alternative hosting options,” United National Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said in a statement.

Following a wave of massive civil unrest with over 1 million people taking to the streets to protest inequality, president Sebastian Pinera announced the decision to withdraw from hosting COP25, along with dropping the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, which was planned for next month.

“As a president, I have a duty to put the needs of Chileans first. Therefore, with pain, we have decided to cancel APEC and COP summits to guarantee order and social peace, focus on dialogue, and a new social agenda to provide urgent solutions to major demands,” the president announced on Twitter (translated from Spanish).

Image Credits: COP25 Twitter.