Delegates huddle during the informal consultations on cooperation with other international organisations. The climate talks in Bonn were long and tense. Credit: IISD/ENB/Kiara Worth

By Umar Manzoor Shah
BONN, Jun 19 2026 (IPS)

The United Nations June Climate Meetings (SB64) ended in Bonn with sharp disagreements between developed and developing countries over climate finance, adaptation support and emissions reductions, leaving negotiators with significant unresolved issues ahead of the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Türkiye.

After nearly two weeks of negotiations at the World Conference Center Bonn, delegates acknowledged some progress on technical matters such as technology transfer, capacity building and just transition discussions. However, many of the most politically sensitive issues, particularly adaptation finance and implementation support for developing countries, remained unresolved.

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell described the atmosphere as increasingly difficult, warning against what he called a tendency among countries to wait for others to act first.

“In some negotiating rooms, we’ve heard a familiar tendency towards ‘you-first-ism’ — groups refusing to deliver commitments or allow the process to move forward unless others go first. This is a recipe for gridlock when we need all negotiating tracks to be moving in the fast lane,” Stiell said in his closing assessment.

The Bonn meetings serve as a key preparatory stage for annual UN climate summits. The discussions are intended to advance technical negotiations and lay the groundwork for political decisions at the next Conference of the Parties. This year, however, the meetings exposed deep divisions over who should pay for climate action and how quickly countries should reduce emissions.

Climate negotiators in Bonn. Credit: UN Climate Change/Lara Murillo

Developing countries argued that adaptation remains an urgent priority because millions of people are already suffering from climate-related disasters. They stressed that without substantial financial support, adaptation plans cannot be implemented effectively.

Speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, Uruguay said developing countries remained deeply concerned about the lack of progress on adaptation and adaptation finance.

“Adaptation remains a key priority for developing countries,” the group said, stating that there is a  need to move forward in ways that address the growing adaptation needs of vulnerable nations.

The G77 and China also called for greater attention to climate finance commitments under Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement and stressed the importance of turning discussions into practical action.

“We should move beyond dialogues and reports and translate into effective implementation of climate action,” the group said, noting that agriculture, livelihoods and food security in developing countries are already being affected by climate change.

The European Union acknowledged that some progress had been achieved but said the pace of negotiations remained too slow.

“The pace remains insufficient to meet the scale of the challenge before us,” the EU said in its closing statement. The bloc urged countries to focus on implementing previous climate agreements and reaffirmed support for limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The EU also expressed frustration over the handling of adaptation negotiations.

“We are extremely disappointed in how GGA negotiations have been handled here in Bonn,” the bloc said, while calling for discussions to continue at a higher political level ahead of COP31.

Several negotiating groups voiced concern over attempts to challenge or weaken scientific findings that underpin international climate action.

The Environmental Integrity Group, represented by Switzerland, warned against efforts to undermine the role of science.

“Science is not negotiable,” the group declared, urging countries to support the timely publication of future reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The group said scientific evidence had consistently guided global climate action and should remain central to future decisions, including the second Global Stocktake process under the Paris Agreement.

The Umbrella Group, represented by the United Kingdom, echoed similar concerns.

“Our climate action must always be guided by the best available science,” the group said. It expressed disappointment that negotiators were unable to reach more substantial conclusions on research and systematic observation.

The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), representing some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, delivered one of the strongest critiques of the Bonn outcome.

The group said it was disappointed by the pace, tone and approach of the negotiations and warned that insufficient progress had been made to ensure a successful COP31.

“AOSIS is deeply concerned by the attempts that were made across agenda items to place the 1.5 limit in doubt, to overlook and diminish its significance as a lifeline for SIDS,” the group said.

Small island nations face existential threats from sea-level rise, coastal erosion and increasingly severe storms.

AOSIS also criticised the slow progress on adaptation finance and transparency issues, saying procedural obstacles had prevented meaningful advances.

The African Group of Negotiators similarly expressed frustration over the lack of movement on climate finance.

Speaking on behalf of 54 African countries and more than 1.6 billion people, Ghana warned that Africa could not afford delays as climate impacts intensify across the continent.

“Antalya and Addis Ababa must deliver meaningful progress as a solid foundation for GST2,” the group said, referring to the second Global Stocktake process.

African negotiators argued that disputes over governance and terminology should not delay efforts to provide desperately needed adaptation finance for vulnerable communities.

The BASIC group, which includes Brazil, South Africa, India and China, also highlighted concerns over declining support for developing countries.

The group called for climate finance to occupy a central place at COP31 and urged countries to complete the transition of the Adaptation Fund so that it can better support vulnerable nations.

BASIC further stressed that developed countries must take the lead in reducing emissions while also mobilising financial support for developing nations.

The Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group delivered an emotional message, saying vulnerable populations were running out of time.

“LDCs do not look to this process for promises, but for action,” Timor-Leste said on behalf of the 44 least developed countries. “Our people didn’t send us here to negotiate the terms of their suffering.”

The group warned that climate impacts are accelerating faster than international responses.

“We reject the blatant undermining of science at this session,” the LDCs said. “Science is neither contentious nor negotiable for our group.”

The Mountain Group, representing 11 mountainous countries, focused attention on the growing vulnerability of mountain regions. Kyrgyzstan said mountain communities are facing severe challenges from glacier loss, water shortages, floods and ecosystem degradation.

The group welcomed the first formal Dialogue on Mountains and Climate Change and called for mountain issues to become a permanent part of the UN climate process.

Meanwhile, the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDCs), represented by China, emphasised equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities as essential foundations for climate cooperation. The group argued that implementation gaps often arise because promised support from developed countries fails to materialise.

Outside the negotiating rooms, civil society organisations sharply criticised the outcome.

Oxfam accused wealthy countries of avoiding their responsibilities on climate finance.

“The UN negotiations have once again been derailed by rich countries’ refusal to take responsibility for increasing critical public climate finance,” said Mariana Paoli, Oxfam’s Climate Policy Lead.

According to Oxfam, even if the pledge to triple adaptation finance were fully implemented, it would provide about $120 billion, far below the estimated adaptation needs of developing countries, which are projected to reach between $310 billion and $365 billion annually by 2035.

Paoli described the situation as a “dark irony,” noting that the world’s first trillionaire emerged at a time when vulnerable countries were struggling to secure adequate climate finance.

“The unwillingness of rich countries to engage meaningfully is astonishing,” she said.

Despite the tensions, negotiators did achieve some notable progress.

Countries agreed on the selection of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as the new host of the Climate Technology Centre and Network, a key institution supporting technology transfer and climate solutions in developing countries. Several groups welcomed the decision as an important step toward strengthening climate action.

Delegates also reported progress on capacity-building initiatives and discussions surrounding a just transition, which aims to ensure that workers and communities are protected during the shift toward low-carbon economies.

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While Africa is responsible for two to three percent of global emissions, the continent stands out disproportionately as the most vulnerable. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
BONN & NAIROBI, Jun 11 2024 (IPS)

As the planet groans under record-breaking temperatures and extreme weather events, Africa, which is responsible for only two to three percent of global emissions, stands out disproportionately as the most vulnerable region in the world. 

António Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General’s special address on climate action titled ‘A Moment of Truth’ said 2024 was the hottest May in recorded history, and that this marks twelve straight months of the hottest months ever. For the past year, every turn of the calendar has turned up the heat.

“Our planet is trying to tell us something.  But we do not seem to be listening. Humanity is just one small blip on the radar. But like the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs, we’re having an outsized impact. In the case of climate, we are not the dinosaurs. We are the meteors. We are not only in danger. We are the danger. But we are also the solution,” he said.

The speech was made during the 60th Sessions of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Subsidiary Bodies—also called the 2024 Bonn Climate Change Conference—to build on the many mandates of COP28 in Dubai, drive forward progress on key issues and prepare decisions for adoption at the COP29 UN Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024.

“We are at a moment of truth. It is a travesty of climate justice that those least responsible for the crisis are hardest hit: the poorest people, the most vulnerable countries, Indigenous Peoples, women and girls. The richest one percent emits as much as two-thirds of humanity,” Guterres observed.

Emphasizing that extreme events “turbocharged by climate chaos are piling up—destroying lives, pummeling economies, and hammering health. Wrecking sustainable development; forcing people from their homes; and rocking the foundations of peace and security—as people are displaced and vital resources depleted.”

Climate justice is an approach to climate action centered on the unequal impacts of climate change on vulnerable populations. It seeks to achieve an equitable distribution of both the burdens of climate change and the efforts to mitigate climate change, examining issues such as equality, human rights and historical responsibilities for climate change.

Activists demand that negotiators at the 2024 Bonn Climate Change Conference and COP29 stay on track with climate finance demands. Credit: UNFCCC

This approach recognizes that marginalized or vulnerable communities, especially in developing and least-developed countries, often face the worst consequences of climate change. The “triple injustice” of climate change means that they frequently experience additional disadvantage as a result of climate change responses, which exacerbates already existing inequalities.

Meena Raman from the Third World Network spoke about the poor performance and duplicity of the developed countries.

“They come to these negotiations talking about issues such as mitigation ambition while regressing and moving away from the climate finance agenda,” she said, pointing to the failure of the developed world to keep to their promises of reducing their carbon emissions by 25 to 40 percent by 2020.

“There are only 17.4 percent emissions reductions overall in developed countries and economies in transition…This is the height of irresponsibility.”

She also called them out on climate finance.

“The developed world has only managed to generate about USD 51.6 billion annually from 2019 to 2020, against a commitment of USD 100 billion per year. And here they come talking about achievements and being on target while they are nowhere near that target,” she said.

Sara Shaw from Friends of the Earth International stressed that developed countries have not provided the finance they owe to developing countries over the past decades to deliver a just transition and a meaningful and just phase out of fossil fuels. This has led to a dire emergency situation, with the impacts of the climate crisis becoming increasingly devastating.

“The situation is fueling, understandably, a narrative of urgency. But instead of the urgency meaning that the action is directed at tackling the root causes of the climate crisis at source, including fossil fuel and greenhouse gas emissions, we see rich countries and big polluters chasing after a range of dangerous distractions, such as the carbon market,” she said.

Raman speaks of a lack of good faith in the negotiations, of big countries minimizing and disguising their contribution to global emissions, and their financial responsibility to developing and underdeveloped countries. Saying there is a resistance to focusing on finance and a deliberate shift to focusing on other issues.

“Developed countries are saying that negotiations here are not only about finance but about the global stocktake—how parties have progressed towards achieving global climate goals—in their entirety. The negotiations are about every global stocktake outcome. But what they are attempting to do is dilute and muddy the discussions so that there will not be a total focus on finance,” Raman emphasized.

“For Baku, COP29 is a finance COP and the new collective quantified goal on finance is a very critical discussion that is going on now and that has to be decided in terms of what the quantity of the new goal is going to be.”

Civil society from Africa, under the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), is in Bonn to voice their concerns and demands on behalf of millions of Africans suffering from climate change’s impacts. To remind the Parties to the UNFCCC of their moral and legal obligations to protect their planet and people from the existential threat of global warming. To hold them accountable for their actions and inactions that have caused and exacerbated this crisis.

“Africa is on the frontlines of the climate crisis. We are experiencing the worst effects of a problem that we did not create. Our communities are facing severe water scarcity, crop failures, malnutrition, diseases, displacement, conflicts, heat waves and loss of life due to climate change. Our natural resources and ecosystems are under immense pressure from climate change and other human activities. Our development prospects and aspirations are being undermined by inadequate support and finance from the international community,” their joint statement read.

Their statement said their call was not for charity or sympathy.

“We are here to demand justice and equity; to demand that the parties, especially those from the North, stop procrastination; to call on them to listen to the voices of the people, especially those who are most vulnerable and marginalized, and to act following the best available science and the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities. We are here to call on rich countries to demonstrate leadership and courage in tackling this crisis that threatens our common future.”

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