Climate News

Bonn climate talks close with finance unresolved on the road to COP31 in Antalya

The UN's mid-year climate talks, known as SB64, ran from 8 to 18 June in Bonn, Germany. The United Nations Regional Information Centre (UNRIC) described them as a milestone on the road to COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, in November, covering adaptation, the just transition, climate finance, agriculture, loss and damage and follow-up to the first global stocktake. UN climate chief Simon Stiell urged countries to "double down" on delivering the Paris Agreement.

The US think tank C2ES listed the technical work on the table, from adaptation indicators to the schedule for the second global stocktake, and argued that the two weeks "must be leveraged to maximize progress—not wasted". Power Shift Africa, which ran a daily blog, said climate finance was still unresolved going into the final day. It reported that the African Group of Negotiators feared a COP30 commitment to triple adaptation finance could be dropped, and that the loss and damage fund had about $822 million pledged but around $500 million delivered.

"It is unacceptable that this hard-won commitment is at risk of being erased from the conclusions of the current session." — Nana Dr Antwi-Boasiako Amoah, African Group chair, via Power Shift Africa

How each outlet framed it

• UNRIC — the UN line: Bonn builds trust and prepares decisions for COP31.
• C2ES — the technical agenda, item by item.
• Power Shift Africa — the African view: developed countries backing away from public finance.

What we don't know yet: whether the adaptation finance pledge survives into the COP31 agenda, and how much the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement will cut the money available.