Decoding the Bonn Climate Talks

RITURAJ PHUKAN

The 62nd session of the Subsidiary Bodies (SB62) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concluded recentlyat the World Convention Center in Bonn, Germany.

These were the first climate talks without the participation of the United States of America for the first time in three decades. Predictably, many of the outstanding issues in climate negotiations were pushes back for lack of consensus.

The annual round of technical negotiations failed to deliver meaningful breakthroughs on key agenda items that developing countries have long considered urgent.

Negotiators at the Bonn Climate Conference found some common ground with progress on the Just Transition Work Programme, Gender, National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and transparency mechanisms, but failed on the critical issues of climate finance, the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), and response measures.

India joined forces with other countries of the Global South on the issue of accountability in climate finance. Developing countries represented by the G77+China, the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC), Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) are expected to push for the inclusion of Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, which highlights the obligation of developed countries to provide financial resources to support both mitigation and adaptation efforts in developing nations, as a formal agenda item during COP30 in Belem.

The next few months, leading up to the pivotal COP30 in Belem expectations will be crucial. The NDC Synthesis Report due in September with updated national climate plans will be fundamental to assess the gap between action plans and science-based need. The Biennial Transparency Reports (BTRs) are also expected to highlight the implementation needs.

One of thehighlights of the conference was the launch of the Climate Policy Impact Assessment General Equilibrium Model (CPIA-GEM) interface, developed by UN Climate Change and the Katowice Committee of Experts (KCI). The objective is to makesophisticated climate modelling tools accessible to developing countries for more evidence-based, inclusive, and accessibleclimate policy assessments.

The platform lets stakeholders set policy scenarios (e.g., carbon pricing, emission targets), select geographic scope, upload data, and run simulations to see impacts on emissions, growth, and trade. Users can quickly visualize results with graphs and charts, including scenario comparisons and country-level outcomes. The interface includes global and country models, with more country models coming soon.

A major milestone in global climate transparency was the launch of a new phase of the Paris Agreement’s Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) during the June Climate Meetings in Bonn.For the first time, Parties convened for a working group session of the Facilitative Multilateral Consideration of Progress (FMCP) under the ETF – a platform for countries to share progress, discuss challenges and learn from one another in implementing their climate commitments.

Another major development for South Asia was signing of a three-year partnership between UN Climate Change and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) to strengthen climate action and ambition across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region.

The agreement was signed by Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, and Pema Gyamtsho, ICIMOD Director General, and this partnership reflects the growing momentum to elevate mountain issues within the global climate agenda.

It is now well established that the Hindu Kush Himalayas are on the frontline of the climate crisis, with melting glaciers, water insecurity, food shortages, and disaster risks threatening millions of people. The new partnership will support governments in the region in strengthening evidence-based policymaking and investment, tracking climate progress, identifying gaps and unlocking support by implementing the Paris Agreement’s Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF).

Parties unanimously approved a 10% hike in the UNFCCC core budget for 2026-27, increasing it to 81.5 million Euros. The core budget is funded by government contributions, and this hike comes despite major funding cuts at other UN agencies, triggered in part by the US withdrawing its contributions ans setbacks in European policies.

Earlier, the opening of the SB62 was held up on the first day due to disagreement on the inclusion of two additional items proposed to be added to the agenda. The dealy was over the agenda item; Two weeks prior to the start of the meetings, the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDCs) group had proposed that trade-restrictive unilateral measures and developed countries’ provision of climate finance be included in the talks agenda.

On a frenetic last day, negotiation sessions on key outstanding matters including the mitigation work programme, the dialogue for implementing the Global Stocktake outcomes, research, and the Global Goal on Adaptation were suspended several times to allow for more informal engagement in so-called “huddles.”

A six-hour session on the GGA proved to be futile, as parties could still not agree on guidance to the experts tasked with refining the list of indicators, especially with regard to references to means of implementation. Finally, the chairs consulted with the Heads of Delegation for a compromise text on the indicators.

The Subsidiary Bodies meet twice a year, once in June and once in November/December alongside sessions of the governing bodies of the Convention, Kyoto Protocol, and Paris Agreement. The Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) is the link between the scientific information provided by expert sources, such as the IPCC, and the policy-oriented needs of the governing bodies.

The Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) focuses on assessing and reviewing the implementation of the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement. The SBSTA and SBI work together on cross-cutting issues that touch on both their areas of expertise.

The comments made my Simon Stiell at the closing plenary reflects the general feeling among observers and activists that the negotiations are not doing enough. “We need to go further, faster, and fairer. I commend the hard work that has paid off over the last ten days, including on the Just Transition Work Programme, Gender, NAPs, Transparency and the UAE Dialogue. Work on some other areas, we have struggled,” the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary said.

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“I’m not going to sugar coat it – we have a lot more to do before we meet again in Belém. There is so much more work to do to keep 1.5 alive, as science demands. We must find a way to get to the hard decisions sooner. We will need negotiators to sit together between sessions to find common ground.”This blunt warning from Simon Stiell reiterates the fact that the world is falling dangerously short of action and that the delay is costing lives. The SB62 once again exposed the widening gap between the developed and developing nations, with the lack of trust undermining the required urgency.

30-06-2025

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