04.06.2024

What is the Bonn Climate Change Conference and why is it important?

About 6000 delegates from 198 countries, mostly national delegations and civil society groups, are gathering in Bonn to participate in the Climate Change Conference. The meeting is hosted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from June 3 to 13. The big task of the conference is to pave the way for the important decisions to be taken at the annual UN climate conference COP29, which will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan in November.

Usually in Bonn, countries negotiate mechanisms to implement the agreements made at the previous COP. They will work on the texts, moving towards draft conclusions, which are then presented as formal recommendations at the next COP.

Therefore, the current COP presidency from Azerbaijan is represented by a larger delegation. Intergovernmental organizations and UN agencies, as well as youth, indigenous peoples and industry representatives will also attend as observers, reports Euronews.

What will be decided at the climate conference in Bonn?

The results of these negotiations will have a strong influence on the decisions that will be taken at COP29 this November.

Issues for discussion in Bonn this year include, among many other topics, climate finance, national climate action plans, ensuring a just transition from fossil fuels and national adaptation plans.

What are some of the hottest topics of conversation?

Climate finance is back in focus

Setting a new target for climate finance from developed to developing countries will be a key task at COP29 later this year.

At the Bonn conference, the countries are tasked with reaching agreements that will serve the negotiations at the UN climate conference in Azerbaijan. This will help narrow down what the post-2025 climate finance target might look like, and interim targets for spending on things like mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage. This will also help determine what form this funding will take - grants or loans.

The Climate Action Network (CAN) says the EU must take clear steps in Bonn to support an ambitious climate finance agreement at COP29 as "the basis for transforming the current unfair financial system".

"The EU must be a driving force to achieve a robust new post-2025 climate finance target that is at the center of public finances and is needs-based, fair, and reflects the specific legal obligations of developed countries," says Emilia Runberg, Development Policy Coordinator at CAN Europe.

Can progress be made on loss and damage in Bonn?

Adjacent to climate finance discussions are solutions to finance loss and damage. The third and final session of the Glasgow Dialogue is expected to take place at the Bonn conference.

This series of dialogues was organized at COP26 in Glasgow in 2022 to discuss financing arrangements for activities to prevent, minimize and address losses and damages related to the adverse impacts of climate change.

At COP28 last year, the Loss and Damage Fund was launched. The decision was controversial because it assumed the World Bank would host the fund, and developed countries would have no obligation to contribute.

However, there are no concrete goals for this final session of the Bonn dialogue. Parties and non-party stakeholders are expected to continue talking about the fund.

National climate plans and fossil fuel phase-out

Perhaps the biggest promise to come out of COP28 was the global agreement on the transition from fossil fuels to renewables and energy efficiency. In Dubai, the "beginning of the end" was announced, but now come the negotiations that must make this promise a reality.

Countries must submit their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) – commitments they make to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions – early next year. Bonn is a chance for further discussions on integrating the COP28 fossil fuel commitment into these commitments before they are finalised.