Bonn Climate Talks: Africa has eyes on $1.3 trillion climate finance roadmap

Many developing countries, particularly in Africa, are proposing more ambitious climate targets as they prepare to submit their updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the UNFCCC in September.

 

However, a recurring challenge persists. Countries lack sufficient financing to implement climate action at the scale required, as international financial support has not been fully realized.

 

More than 70% of African climate commitments are conditional – they rely on external finance to be realized. Without tangible funding commitments from developed countries, these NDCs risk remaining aspirational rather than actionable.

 

The African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) is therefore concerned about the ongoing UN Climate Conference in Bonn, Germany, delivering on climate finance.

 

During COP 26, rich countries pledged to double the amount of adaptation financing they provide by 2025 compared to 2018. At COP 30, the question of whether this has been met will be crucial.

 

The Bonn negotiations present a special moment to set an ambitious expectation of adaptation finance for the UN climate talks in Brazil later this year.  

 

AGN Chair, Dr. Richard Muyungi, says going back to the $1.3trillion climate finance deliverable is critical, taking into account both the historic imbalances and urgent development and resource needs.

 

“We need resources because impacts are increasing; we need resources because we are committed to work with the international community and we can’t do that without resources on the ground. Therefore, for us the realization of the $1.3trillion roadmap is very important,” he emphasized at a press conference in Bonn.

 

The delivery of the Just Transition – a shift towards low carbon climate resilient economies – is another essential area of interest to the AGN.

 

Dr. Muyungi believes the Just Transition is a transformative approach with inherent opportunities in the shift, but the AGN is also looking at the prioritizing issues that impact on the daily lives of people in Africa, including connectivity and energy security and clean cooking and impacts on women and children.

 

“We do understand that is not an easy task; it is not just a negotiating process, but a life transforming process. The Just Transition pathways must be informed by the realities of Africa on the ground, they must be informed by the needs and what Africa contributes to the just transition,” he stated.

 

The mid-year UN climate talks kicked off in Bonn amid an increase in climate impacts globally, yet many of the world’s biggest polluters have not submitted their updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). In response, African countries are calling on big emitters to submit ambitious emissions reduction plans to achieve the 1.5°C temperature goals.

 

In this year’s conference, the COP Presidencies of Azerbaijan and Brazil will jumpstart discussions between countries on delivering the $1.3 trillion goal. The roadmap offers the opportunity to address finance questions that went unanswered at COP 29.

 

African countries have continually emphasized the need for grants for adaptation and loss and damage, and concessional finance for the just transition.

 

As negotiators get to work, COP30 President, André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, has prevailed on governments to deliver on what they agreed to do under the Global Stocktake.

 

by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Climate action ideals waning a major global talks?

When the richest countries in the world met at the 50^th G7 leaders’ summit in Alberta, Canada, climate action was not a priority on their agenda. 

 

But in a crucial time to raise ambition to avert a climate catastrophe, these countries are expected to be leading the phase out of fossil fuels and the transition to renewable energy, which would lead to more prosperity, cleaner air and reliable energy.

 

Civil society organization, 350.org, has expressed disappointment at the lack of climate leadership, urgency and ambition from world leaders.

 

“European leaders arrived at the G7 with plans to build more nuclear and expand fossil gas, pushing LNG not to solve the climate crisis, but to score points in trade relations with Trump. Europe claims climate leadership, but backing more gas infrastructure in a year of record heat and extreme weather is reckless. This summit should be about figuring out how to phase out fossil fuels and triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 — not climate hypocrisy,” said Nicolò Wojewoda, Europe Regional Director, 350.org.

 

The G7 includes the most polluting countries and some of the largest fossil fuel expanders, Canada and the United States. These nations bear the historic responsibility to contribute climate finance to the tune of $1.3 trillion annually in non-debt-creating support for Global South nations. 

 

Bonn meeting and climate emergency

 

On the road to COP30 in Brazil, the mid-year UN climate talks opened in Bonn, Germany, to advance key negotiations, with UN climate chief, Simon Stiell, pleading that “we need to demonstrate to the world that climate cooperation can deliver - now more than ever.”

 

According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Africa has suffered annual losses of $7 billion due to climate change between 2010 and 2019. This figure could rise to $50 billion by 2040 if the high-emissions scenarios continue, and could cause a 2-4% reduction in Africa's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth per year by 2040, and a 10-25% reduction by 2100.

 

It's therefore crucial to provide urgent finance specifically dedicated to adaptation, loss and damage to help countries prepare for future displacement, livelihood disruption, and losses.

 

At the Bonn Climate Talks, the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) has prioritized Adaptation, Finance, Just Transition, Mitigation, Clean Cooking and Mission 300. 

 

Clean cooking and energy access are two important initiatives aimed at addressing Africa’s energy poverty and overall contribution to the continent’s sustainable development agenda.

 

“Africa’s energy poverty is well documented; it is for this reason that our leaders under the auspices of the African Union, endorsed and declared Mission 300 and Clean Cooking initiatives as flagship programmes to transform the continent from its current state of energy poverty. We need to find a way of ensuring this agenda is embraced by all of us,” said Chair of AGN, Dr. Richard Muyungi.

 

Africa climate aspirations

 

Ahead of the 62^nd session of the UN Climate Change Subsidiary Bodies (SB62) in Bonn, the AGN emphasized the importance and power of Africa’s unity in global negotiations.

 

African civil society, under the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), has also reminded negotiators, observers, and Parties that the outcomes of this conference must reflect the lived realities, aspirations, and urgent needs of the world’s most climate-vulnerable continent.

 

In this regard, Africa’s voice must shape the direction of global climate discussions and action.

 

A few days into talks, PACJA has been alarmed by the sluggish pinto of proceedings and delays in adopting the agenda.

 

“This signals the beginning of yet another manoeuvre orchestrated by developed country partners to keep the frontline communities in Africa and other vulnerable countries under the bondage of the climate crisis,” said PACJA.

 

The first day of the negotiations ended without agreement on the agenda particularly because parties could not agree on the most crucial matter – climate finance – with special reference on article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement which is clear on the obligation of the developed country partners in providing resources to developing countries for climate action.

 

“We reiterate that negotiations in Bonn this year must reflect the urgency in dealing with the ever-elusive question of financing climate action,” said PACJA.

 

Ahead of COP30 in Brazil, groups like the G7 are expected to seize the opportunity to reinforce their climate commitments, ensuring the vulnerable can access the right support to adapt to the realities of climate change.

 

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

UN Bonn Climate Meetings set to begin on 16 June

The UN June Climate Meetings – formally called the 62^nd session of the Subsidiary Bodies (SB62) – start on Monday 16 June at the World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB) in Bonn, Germany, where UN Climate Change (UNFCCC) is headquartered.

 

Building on the progress achieved at the COP29 UN Climate Change Conference in Baku last year, the meetings from 16 to 26 June aim to drive forward progress on key issues and prepare decisions for adoption at the upcoming COP30 UN Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil, in November of this year. 

 

Government delegates and civil society representatives will make up a significant part of the around 5,000 participants expected to attend the meetings.

 

The UN June Climate Meeting in Bonn aims to drive forward progress on key issues and prepares decisions for adoption at the upcoming COP30 UN Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil, in November. 

 

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell will be giving an opening speech on Monday, 16 June at the opening plenary to set the scene for the June Climate Meetings.

 

Climate Change: AGN Chair emphasises importance of Africa’s unity in global negotiations

Chair of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN), Dr. Richard Muyungi has emphasised the importance and power of Africa’s unity in global negotiations.

Speaking at the opening of the AGN Preparatory Plenary Meeting ahead of the 62^nd session of the UN Climate Change Subsidiary Bodies (SB62) in Bonn, Germany, Dr. Muyungi said power was a crucial element of climate negotiations.

“Florian Weiler lists three factors that determine power in UNFCCC negotiations:  the size of a country’s economy, its international prestige, and levels of national greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity,” he said.

“When compared to the continent, individual AGN member states score very low on all these factors. Therefore, the AGN concept seeks to overcome this constraint through; providing a coordinated African response; reducing the likelihood of contradictory and competing bargaining positions; and discouraging incentives being offered to individual African states by external powers, which could undermine unity and cohesion. It is thus important that we continue leveraging on this power of unity as Africa.” 

Dr. Muyungi further noted that through power of unity, AGN has been instrumental in representation and coordination by speaking with one voice, allowing the continent to exert more influence in the negotiation process. 

“Over the years, the AGN has been pivotal in addressing Africa’s vulnerability and highlighting the importance of climate finance, adaptation, capacity building and overall climate action, by balancing individual country priorities on the one hand and demonstrating cohesion as a negotiating group on the other,” he added.

As a technical arm reporting to the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) and ultimately to the Committee of African Heads of state on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), the AGN remains a key instrument for Africa’s participation in climate negotiations and other related processes.

Dr. Muyungi explained “the second key pillar of the AGN position in the UNFCCC negotiations is the location of adaptation as the principal regional response to climate change. In fact, in the context of the impacts of drought, desertification, floods, and the need for adaptation, Africa was, at one stage, the only region that was explicitly referred to in the UNFCCC documents. The consistency of the AGN in advancing this position has undoubtably contributed to the prominence of adaptation in UNFCCC negotiations.

“This prominence of adaptation is reflected by (1) direct linkages that now exist between climate finance and adaptation, including recognition of the need for equal division of climate finance for adaptation and for mitigation; (2) the implications for adaptation responses owing to the failure in achieving the global mitigation goal, (3) the link between the global temperature goal and adaptation, (4) a shift in the framing of adaptation from a local issue to a global responsibility, (5) the inclusion of the adaptation component in the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) by almost all developing countries, (6) the establishment of the global goal on adaptation by the Paris Agreement; and (7) the inclusion of adaptation in the global stock take of the Paris Agreement”. 

Priorities at SB62 session

At the Bonn Climate Talks, the group has prioritized Adaptation, Finance, Just Transition, Mitigation, Clean Cooking and Mission 300. 

Clean cooking and energy access are two important initiatives aimed at addressing Africa’s energy poverty and overall contribution to the continent’s sustainable development agenda.

“Africa’s energy poverty is well documented; it is for this reason that our leaders under the auspices of the African Union, endorsed and declared Mission 300 and Clean Cooking initiatives as flagship programmes to transform the continent from its current state of energy poverty. We need to find a way of ensuring this agenda is embraced by all of us.

“As we are aware, our energy poverty impacts several social-economic sectors such as health, agriculture, manufacturing, and even adaptation to climate change impacts. We must therefore not shy away from highlighting and embedding into negotiations, key initiatives that we are undertaking as a continent for sustainable development and in support of global climate action,” highlighted Dr. Muyungi.

Mission 300 is a joint initiative by the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank Group to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030, while the Clean Cooking Project aims to transform the clean cooking sector by enhancing private sector participation and increasing access to affordable clean cooking solutions, particularly in underserved areas. 

The two initiatives, spearheaded by the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, were in February, 2025, endorsed and declared as African union flagship programmes on clean energy access.

“At our Strategic meeting in Zanzibar in April, we resolved to ensure these two important initiatives are embedded in the Just transition and Mitigation work programmes, as guided by our Heads of State guidance in February,” added the AGN Chair. 

Additional priority areas

1. Finalizing Africa’s approach towards the new round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs 3.0), ensuring they are ambitious, equitable, and supported by adequate means of implementation;

 

2. Securing clarity and operationalization of the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance, building upon AU and CAHOSCC relevant guiding decisions and the "Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3 trillion USD by 2035";

 

3. Ensuring decisive progress on adaptation, including the adoption of robust indicators under the Global Goal on Adaptation, and tangible progress on National Adaptation Plans;

 

4. Defending Africa’s equity-centered positions in the evolving global climate governance, particularly in loss and damage, technology transfer, just transition work programmes, and transparency frameworks; and

 

5. Reaffirming that Africa’s natural wealth presents a transformative opportunity to drive global climate change mitigation while catalysing inclusive, sustainable economic growth across the continent, with particular attention to how Africa’s natural wealth could enable Africa to leapfrog into a low-carbon future while contributing meaningfully to global emissions reductions.