Bonn agenda adopted but excludes item on mitigation and scaling up finance

A formal agenda for the Bonn climate talks was adopted on Wednesday, a day before the meeting was to officially close. A compromise was reached on not including the agenda item on the Sharm El Sheikh mitigation ambition and implementation work programme which deals with urgently scaling up targets to mitigate climate change during this decade.

Instead, the discussions in informal consultations on the matter held at Bonn will be reflected in an informal note which will be issued by subsidiary bodies, it was decided on Wednesday.

Bonn, seen as a run-up to the COP28 meeting later this year in Dubai is important because it sets the tone and agenda for political negotiations in Dubai. But the agenda on mitigation action couldn’t be finalised because of the differences between developed and developing countries on how to finance mitigation efforts in the latter.

In line with the Paris Agreement’s principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities, developing countries sought an agenda on finance for scaling up mitigation action. But developed countries led by the US and the EU opposed the agenda stating that existing mechanisms address the issue of finance; the former added that it is open to a discussion when the flow of finance is not limited to developed countries paying developing countries but also includes funding from emerging economies and the private sector.

Till the penultimate day of the conference there was no agreement on the issue. Experts said rich nations did not want reference or accountability of historical emissions which is why they did not agree to negotiations on scaling up finance for energy transition in developing countries. Subsidiary body chairs on Wednesday said there were continued consultations were held between parties and a compromise was reached on the matter. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established three governing bodies: COP (or the Conference of Parties), which is the apex decision making body, the CMP (the signatories of the Kyoto agreement), and the CMA (the signatories of the Paris agreement). It also established two subsidiary bodies, one on scientific and technological advice (SBSTA) and another on implementation (SBI) to assist the parties.

“In the spirit of compromise and flexibility” it was decided that item 21 (agenda on Sharm El Sheikh mitigation ambition and implementation work programme) will be reflected in an informal note issued by the chairs. The agenda on mitigation of emissions and associated finance are critical because a global stocktake is scheduled to be held in Dubai during COP28 in November.

The Global Stocktake (GST) is the process for reviewing the implementation of the Paris Agreement and its goal of keeping global warming to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to keep it under 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The mitigation efforts will now have to be scaled up in a manner that complements the global stocktake.

At the current levels of emissions, the world is way off the mark from the Paris Agreement goals, and, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, headed for 2.7°C warming.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres flagged several issues and said parties are backtracking on climate action. “I see a lack of ambition. A lack of trust. A lack of support. A lack of cooperation. And an abundance of problems around clarity and credibility. The climate agenda is being undermined. At a time when we should be accelerating action, there is backtracking. At a time when we should be filling gaps, those gaps are growing. Meanwhile, the human rights of climate activists are being trampled. The most vulnerable are suffering the most,” he said. Current policies are taking the world to 2.8 degree C warming he said but keeping warming under 1.5 degree C is still possible.

“I urge governments to make it happen – by hitting fast-forward on their net zero deadlines – so that developed countries commit to reaching net-zero as close as possible to 2040, and emerging economies as close as possible to 2050. Developed countries must also push Multilateral Development Banks to adapt their business models, skill sets, and approaches to risk – and to leverage far more private finance at reasonable cost to developing countries to allow for a massive increase in investment in renewables,” he added.

Guterres also called for a commitment to no new coal and complete phasing out coal by 2030 in rich countries and by 2040 elsewhere.

The World Meteorological Organisation on May 15 warned that there is a 66% chance that annual global surface temperature will temporarily exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for at least one of the next five years.

“The developed countries have not fulfilled their two basic and fundamental tasks. First task, to implement its commitments made in the Convention (UNFCCC) in the early 1990s, to undertake ambitious climate mitigation efforts. And, second task, fulfilling its commitments to provide finance to strengthen climate action on developing countries. They have allowed climate change to progress and to become a real climate crisis, which will provoke the imminent collapse of humanity and of Mother Earth,” said Diego Pacheco from Bolivia who made the intervention on scaling up finance, on behalf of Like Minded Developing Countries.

“Developed countries intend to solve the climate crisis by transferring their responsibilities to the private sector, to the multilateral development banks, and to the developing countries. Finance for them implies making good profits from climate change and indebting even more to developing countries. We are in a stage of implementation of our Nationally Determined Contributions and for that we do need financing and means of implementation. We ask that the legal commitments agreed within the framework of the Convention and its Paris Agreement must be fulfilled,” he added.

“Rich nations at the Bonn Climate Conference shunned calls to link finance with mitigation, a crucial step for intensifying global climate action. Although this latest compromise does not negate the progress made in recent weeks, it hampers the ambition for enhanced mitigation efforts and hinders the capacity of finance to unlock potential, bolster implementation, and align with the scientific evidence and principles of justice” said Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International.

HT reported on June 14 that the EU objected to the agenda by LMDC and stated that though the discussion on finance was very important to them, the Paris Agreement has provisions which states support will be provided and there are several discussions on finance that are ongoing under different heads. The US said they do not support Bolivia’s proposal because there are many other opportunities to discuss the issue and a new agenda is not needed. They also said the new agenda item does not derive from the COP mandate and that there is nothing that limits donors to developed countries.

“Climate finance has become the Achilles heel of climate negotiations, it should have been the case long back. The European negotiators got a taste of the increasing resolve of the developing world on this issue, with the agenda being withheld from adoption for a week. Various groupings including LMDC and the Arab Group rejected the inclusion of the Mitigation Work Programme (MWP) in the agenda in absence of inclusion of climate finance in the same. The develop world has to sooner than later accept the criticality of finance for low income nations, and walk the talk on the same,” said Vaibhav Chaturvedi, fellow, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).