Bonn climate summit a key test ahead of UN meet
The Bonn Climate Change Conference, the meeting that serves as a midway point between the larger annual UN Climate Change meeting (COP30), is set to open on Monday and will continue till June 26.
The Bonn meeting is critical to thrash out differences before the parties meet in November for a climate deal, which will take place amid severe geopolitical turmoil and renewed tensions as Israel strikes Iran. The shadow of failed climate finance talks at COP29, Baku, also shroud these meetings. There are divergent views on the Baku to Belem road map to 1.3T, which is expected to be finalised at COP30 in Brazil this November.
For example, according to an analysis made by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), G77 and China demand that equity and Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) must be at the core of climate finance, and developing countries must be allowed to self-determined pathways to use finance; the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC), another coalition of developing nations, has sought exclusion of international taxes, levies and debt approaches as they violate sovereignty.
HT reported on June 3 that India has put forth its expectations, stating that without sufficient climate finance, even proposed nationally determined contributions will not materialise, leave alone any ambitious future NDCs. India has said climate finance should flow from developed countries to developing countries, and that public capital should be used strategically to crowd in private investments for climate action, pointing out that excessive borrowing poses risks to a country's fiscal stability.
In an interview to HT earlier this month, Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav said: 'India's asks would be as articulated in Article 4.7 of the UNFCCC, i.e., economic and social development and poverty eradication are the first and overriding priorities of the developing countries. No proposed strategies should foreclose the possibilities of accelerated social and economic development for developing countries. The principle of CBDR-RC should be reinforced. As regards India, its overarching goal of Viksit Bharat 2047 is of paramount importance and accordingly, climate actions of India should align with the goal of Viksit Bharat.'
The Arab Group has also warned against approaches that reshape finance obligations from developed to developing countries.
The EU, on the other hand, has said the road map should be a tool to unlock private capital for climate investments, proposing innovative financial instruments, carbon pricing etc. Canada has also proposed mapping barriers to private capital, creating enabling environments in developing countries. The difference in priorities is obvious.
To be sure, the US, the largest historical emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, has pulled out of the Paris Agreement. In January, President Donald Trump had signed an executive order soon after taking office directing the US' withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, weakening what had, over the past four years especially, become a global movement to combat the climate crisis.
The turmoil and differences come at a time when climate change impacts have become stark and urgent. HT reported on June 12 that the World Weather Attribution has concluded that climate change added 3 degrees Celsius to heat conditions in the Arctic region — which caused Greenland's ice sheet to melt 17 times the normal rate last month. Until May, the world experienced an extended phase of 21 months with global-average temperatures more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level. The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) warned that there is an 80% chance that a year between 2025 and 2029 will be warmer than 2024 and that there is a 70% chance that the five-year average warming for 2025-2029 will surpass 1.5°C leading to frequent and severe heat waves, droughts, and extreme weather events.
The next few weeks present a rare and revealing sequence: the G7 Summit (June 15–17), SB62 in Bonn (June 16–26), and the Financing for Development Conference in Seville (June 30–July 3). Together, they expose the power dynamics that continue to stall climate finance, Climate Action Network said in a statement on Friday.
'We are facing a crisis of legitimacy and a breakdown of trust in the UN climate process. Government negotiators at the SB62 session (Bonn) must send a clear signal that the decisions and actions they take will ensure that justice is not a side conversation, but the core principle that will determine whether COP30 can succeed or not,' said Tasneem Essop, executive director at Climate Action Network International.
Only 22 countries have submitted updated national climate plans (aka NDCs) due this year with only one (the UK) rated in line with the 1.5°C temperature goal set in the Paris Agreement. Among major polluters, China and the EU are yet to land their 2035 targets.
'As if things were not uncertain enough, this year has also seen a new and extreme level of political weaponisation of the global economy and trade by the new administration at the helm of the US... As geopolitics worsen and the global economy continues to teeter, the implications are being felt across multilateral spaces, including UNFCCC. The strain of the rapidly degrading sense of cooperation among countries threatens faith in the legitimacy of multilateralism and the institutions that uphold it,' CAN said.
'We're in the middle of multiple escalating crises. There are few spaces remaining where countries come together and cooperate. It's more important than ever before that multilateralism is upheld and the goals that have been set — such as the transition away from fossil fuels in Dubai and the climate finance goal in Baku. The Bonn conference must reinforce our commitment to cooperative, equitable climate action despite the current moment,' said Avantika Goswami, Programme Manager, Climate Change Centre for Science and Environment.
'As political crises and global conflicts dominate headlines, we must not lose sight of the escalating climate emergency. Climate disasters are intensifying, hitting the most vulnerable communities and countries the hardest. The mid-year climate talks are not a side note — they are the foundation for a successful COP30. We need urgent progress now to deliver real climate finance, accelerate a just transition away from fossil fuels, and protect both people and nature. Delaying action means deepening injustice and multiplying both human and ecological costs,' said Harjeet Singh, climate activist and founding director of Satat Sampada Climate Foundation.
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