Bonn Climate Talks: Ghana takes the floor on behalf of the African Group of Negotiators

The UN June Climate Meetings has opened in Bonn, Germany, with Ghana taking the floor on behalf of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) to deliver interventions on climate adaptation, finance, and governance.

 

As negotiations opened at the 64^th Sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies (SB64) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the AGN has called for a more responsive, equitable and implementation-focused climate process.

 

Delivering the Group’s statement during the Joint SBI–SBSTA Opening Plenary, AGN Chair, Nana Dr. Antwi-Boasiako Amoah, reaffirmed Africa’s commitment to constructive engagement.

 

He expressed concern over growing climate risks facing Africa, citing recent forecast of likely El Niño conditions and warning that worsening climate impacts threaten livelihoods and development gains across the continent.

 

“About a week ago, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) issued a warning of an 80 per cent likelihood of El Nino conditions during June-August 2026, with probabilities for continuation to at least November near or above 90 per cent, and most models suggesting at least moderate and possibly strong conditions,” said Nana Dr. Amoah. “For Africa, already burdened by severe climate impacts, a warning of worsening conditions spells catastrophe. It is of grave concern to all of us, and yet – in a process claiming urgency – we do not even have agenda items on Loss and Damage, or on National Adaptation Plans. We find a process that is insensitive to Africa's situation deeply worrying.”

 

The AGN Chair questioned the absence of agenda items on Loss and Damage and National Adaptation Plans, stressing that climate negotiations must remain responsive to countries experiencing severe climate impacts.

 

Formally called the 64^th sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies under the UNFCCC (SB64), the UN June Climate Meetings are where the agenda takes shape for the UN Climate COP in November each year, this November in Antalya, Türkiye (COP31).   

 

They are held annually at the World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB) where UN Climate Change (UNFCCC) is headquartered. 

 

The meetings are held over 10 days, ending this year on Thursday 18 June, and are expected to have over 7,000 participants, including negotiators from Parties to the Paris Agreement (i.e. national governments), observers from civil society, real economy and sectoral leaders. 

 

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell, says “leaving economies and communities exposed to climate disasters will take a wrecking ball to live”.

 

 

AGN focus at SB64

 

On adaptation, the AGN welcomed engagement under the Baku Adaptation Roadmap and the Belem–Addis Vision and emphasised that agreed indicators should support implementation and inform future Global Stocktake processes.

 

The AGN reiterated that implementation discussions must remain grounded in existing obligations under the Paris Agreement and called for progress on the Technical Task Force.

 

“We reiterate; the primary purpose of agreed indicators is to ensure we have clear and usable information feeding into the global stocktake in respect of adaptation action as well as on support needed and provided. We look forward equally to progress on composition and modalities of the Technical Task Force.”

 

On climate finance, the group reaffirmed that the Climate Finance Work Programme remains rooted in Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, which places an obligation on developed parties to provide financial support to developing parties, and expressed concern that it is not adequately reflected in the agenda.

 

The AGN Chair called for a clear operational definition of climate finance that incorporates grant equivalence, additionality, predictability and accountability, pointing out the importance of strengthening the Adaptation Fund and advancing work on monetisation of the Share of Proceeds.

 

Regarding Just Transition, Nana Dr. Amoah called for balanced allocation of negotiation time to support operationalisation of the mechanism and implementation of agreed outcomes.

 

On climate and trade, Africa reiterated that climate-related measures must not undermine sustainable development and poverty eradication and raised concerns over unilateral trade restrictions and supply-chain measures that impose costs without corresponding support.

 

“We look forward to a constructive engagement on how trade measures impact the ability of African countries to pursue the goals of the Paris Agreement, while safeguarding the legitimate right of African nations to pursue sustainable development and poverty eradication. Africa is unapologetic about protecting her development space. We also cannot shy away from a decision in respect of unilateral measures and unjustifiable trade restrictions, including climate-related trade measures and supply-chain regulations that impose costs without commensurate support,” said the AGN Chair.

 

 

 

Africa's climate negotiators put health at the centre of climate action ahead of Bonn talks

African climate negotiators have reaffirmed their commitment to placing health at the heart of global climate negotiations, recognising climate change not only as an environmental challenge but as a growing public health emergency affecting millions across the continent.

 

The call was made by African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) Chair, Nana Dr. Antwi-Boasiako Amoah, during a Climate and Health Capacity Building Workshop convened in Bonn, Germany, ahead of the 64th Session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies (SB64).

 

Addressing negotiators, technical experts, young climate leaders, and representatives from key institutions, including the WHO-AFRO, the Africa CDC, Amref Health Africa, and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Nana Dr. Amoah emphasized that climate and health are inseparable realities for Africa.

 

He noted that rising temperatures, recurrent floods and droughts, food insecurity, malnutrition, air pollution, and changing disease patterns are placing unprecedented strain on health systems and communities across the continent.

 

The workshop, supported by the IISD builds on momentum generated by the launch of the first ever African Negotiators Climate and Health Curriculum developed by Amref Health Africa and launched in Dar es Salaam last year.

 

“Since then, evidence of climate-related health impacts has continued to mount, with climate-sensitive diseases expanding into new regions and extreme weather events damaging critical health infrastructure,” said Dr. Amoah. “We continue to witness climate-sensitive diseases expanding into new geographies, health infrastructure being damaged by extreme weather events, and increasing burdens on already stretched public health systems in Africa”.

 

The AGN Chair highlighted progress made in securing the inclusion of health within the framework of the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), describing it as a significant milestone in recognising that adaptation efforts must ultimately protect people, livelihoods, and well-being.

 

As discussions continue under the Belém Adaptation Indicators and the Baku Adaptation Road Map, African negotiators are calling for health indicators that reflect the realities and vulnerabilities of African countries, emphasising the urgent need for increased adaptation finance.

 

“Following the adoption of the Belém Adaptation indicators and the ongoing discussions under the Baku Adaptation Roadmap, Africa has a unique opportunity to shape how adaptation is measured, financed and implemented globally.

 

“We must ensure that health indicators under the global goal on adaptation are meaningful, context-specific, and responsive to Africa’s realities. We must also continue pushing for adaptation finance that enables countries to build climate-resilient health systems, strengthen early warning systems, protect health infrastructure, and enhance preparedness for climate-related health emergencies,” said the AGN Chair.

 

Climate finance remains a top priority for the continent, and the AGN Chair noted that despite escalating climate-related health risks, the health sector continues to receive only a fraction of the adaptation finance required.

 

“We won’t relent on calling for developed countries to deliver on their climate finance commitments and ensure that health considerations are reflected within broader discussions on loss and damage, given the significant social and economic costs associated with climate-related health impacts,” he said.

 

Delegates at the workshop described a historic opportunity for the continent to shape global climate priorities, including climate and health, indicating COP31, which is meant to be a strong building block for COP32, to be hosted in Africa.

 

The workshop also highlighted the critical role of young negotiators and technical experts in ensuring continuity and long-term leadership of Africa’s climate and health agenda. Participants agreed that stronger collaboration between AGN, WHO-AFRO, Africa CDC, Amref Health Africa, and other partners will be essential in advancing coordinated African positions ahead of upcoming negotiations.

 

WHO-AFRO, Africa CDC, and Amref Health Africa highlighted their work on climate and health and pledged continued support for Africa’s climate and health agenda.

 

Overall, the AGN Chair reaffirmed the Group’s commitment to elevating climate and health as a strategic continental priority, urging negotiators to develop coherent African messages and negotiation strategies to ensure health remains fully integrated into climate policy discussions.

 

“Health is the human face of the climate crisis,” he noted, emphasizing that if climate negotiations are ultimately about protecting people, then health must remain at the centre of global climate action.

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

From Paris to Katowice: a slow progressive Talanoa Dialogue for Climate Ambition

If Paris was historic in carving a global climate deal, Katowice will define the political urgency for climate action.

Negotiations at the just ended United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, focused on the Paris Agreement Work Programme, under which countries are designing the guidelines that will move the climate pact from concepts to actions.

The Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group, at the concluding session, expressed concern at the lack of urgency in moving the negotiations forward.

“It is time to look at the bigger picture, see the severe impacts that climate change is having across the world, and rise to the challenge,” said Group Chair, Gebru Jember Endalew.

He expects steady progress be made throughout 2018 on all issues so that poor and vulnerable countries can engage effectively.

“A last-minute rush at COP24 risks leaving developing countries behind,” he said.

The Paris Rulebook

The Rulebook spells guidelines on how to put the Paris Agreement into practice.

There is a call for a fair, robust and transparent Rulebook that inspires confidence among countries to step up and commit to enhanced national climate targets by 2020.

They are essential for determining whether total world emissions are declining fast enough to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. These include boosting adaptation and limiting the global temperature increase to well below 2°C, while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C.

“I am satisfied that some progress was made here in Bonn. But many voices are underlining the urgency of advancing more rapidly on finalizing the operational guidelines. The package being negotiated is highly technical and complex. We need to put it in place so that the world can monitor progress on climate action,” said Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change.

Progress on Agriculture

Recognizing the urgency of addressing interests in the agriculture sector, the Bonn conference made a significant advance on the “Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture” by adopting a roadmap for the next two-and-a-half years.

Farmers are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts such as prolonged droughts and shifting rainfall patterns, and agriculture is an important source of emissions.  

This roadmap responds to the world’s farming community of more than 1 billion people and to the 800 million people who live in food-insecure circumstances, mainly in developing countries. It addresses a range of issues including the socio-economic and food-security dimensions of climate change, assessments of adaptation in agriculture, co-benefits and resilience, and livestock management.

But not with Finance…

Without advances in the talks over the commitment of future financial support from rich countries to developing nations, who are already facing devastating climate impacts, it became difficult for other areas of the negotiations to progress.

LDC Group Chair, Gebru Jember Endalew, stated “Finance is key to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. In the face of climate change, poor and vulnerable countries are forced to address loss and damage and adapt to a changing climate, all while striving to lift their people out of poverty without repeating the mistakes of an economy built on fossil fuels. This is not possible without predictable and sustainable support."

Civil society also expressed some dissatisfaction with the finance dialogue.

“The radio silence on money has sown fears among poor countries that their wealthier counterparts are not serious about honouring their promises. This funding is not just a bargaining chip, it is essential for delivering the national plans that make up the Paris Agreement,” said Mohamed Adow, International Climate Lead, Christian Aid. “For the Paris Agreement to be a success we need the Katowice COP to be a success. And for the Katowice COP to be a success we need assurances that sources of funding will be coming.”

The Talanoa Dialogue

The Fijian Presidency of COP23 launched the Talanoa Dialogue to spur an outcome for enhanced ambition at the end of this year at COP24.

The first global conversation about efforts to combat climate change was witnessed on Sunday, May 6, at the 2018 Bonn Climate Talks.

The dialogue wrote history when countries and non-Party stakeholders including cities, businesses, investors and regions engaged in interactive story-telling for the first time.

The dialogue witnessed some 250 participants sharing more than 700 stories of climate struggle and inspiration, providing fresh ideas and renewed determination to raise ambition.

Seven groups, known as “Talanoas”, took part in the informal Talanoa tradition of sharing stories to find solutions for the common good. Participants discussed three central questions: Where are we? Where do we want to go? How do we get there?

The Dialogue has the goal of taking stock of collective efforts towards progress on the Paris Agreement’s long-term mitigation goal. It will also inform the preparation of parties’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the second round of which are expected in 2020.

“Now is the time for action. Now is the time to commit to making the decisions the world must make. We must complete the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement on time. And we must ensure that the Talanoa Dialogue leads to more ambition in our climate action plans,” said Frank Bainimarama, Prime Minister of Fiji and President of COP23.

Talanoa inspires discussion between countries not as negotiating blocs but as one of people to people. But it is important that this is translated into a clear political process.

The Polish Presidency must take up the baton from the Fiji Presidency and work with all countries towards a political outcome for stronger national targets by 2020.

Political Action in Katowice

All input received to date and up to 29 October 2018 will feed into the Talanoa Dialogue’s second but more political phase at COP24.

To be meaningful, the Talanoa Dialogue “must deliver concrete outcomes that drive an increase in ambition and support to put us on track to achieving the 1.5 degree temperature goal set in Paris, guided by equity and science," said Mr. Endalew.

Talks resume in Bangkok from September 3-8 where negotiators will pick up “informal notes” forwarded by this session. They will attempt to turn these notes and various inputs from countries into the basis for a negotiating text ahead of COP24 in Katowice, Poland.

“The science is clear: we need to get into higher gear to reach Paris goals and we need to have the courage to go beyond traditional politics. Meeting in the middle is no option this time,” said Marcel Beukeboom, Climate Envoy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

A stronger political leadership remains critical to achieve the major milestones envisaged for COP24 in Katowice, Poland.

The UN Climate Change talks are an integral part of a broader, worldwide debate on climate change.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement.

The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep a global average temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius and to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The UNFCCC is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

The ultimate objective of all agreements under the UNFCCC is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame which allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development.

“The time for stories has long since passed,” said Meena Raman of Third World Network. “We live in a world with over 1℃ warming and the devastation is already severe. We cannot allow for that warming to go beyond 1.5℃ and we need a political process to prevent that.”

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

The bigger issue of reducing carbon emissions in climate negotiations

A popular slogan with climate activists in global climate negotiations is “kick polluters out”. But fossil fuel companies are still welcome at the UN climate talks.

The influence of the fossil fuel industry and other polluting industries has become a central topic of concern for governments.

The issue of conflicts of interest and how to best ensure the integrity of the UNFCCC process once again dominated the climate talks in Bonn, Germany as governments launched what is meant to be a formative year for climate policy.

Talks on developing a conflict of interest policy ended with a mandate to talk more next time.

The African Group, Ecuador and Cuba and the Africa group had advocated such a policy which is opposed by the US, EU, Canada, Norway and Australia.

Both sides have agreed to identify opportunities “to further enhance the openness, transparency, inclusiveness of the effective engagement of non-party stakeholders”.

“Once again, the United States and its pro-fossil fuel allies are on the wrong side of history, putting Big Polluters before people and the planet. But today’s results prove that no amount of obstruction from the U.S. and its Big Polluter allies will ultimately prevent this movement from advancing.

And while Global North obstructionism mired these talks in delays, obstruction and censorship, Global South leaders prevailed in securing a clear path forward for the conflict of interest movement, ensuring the issue will be front and center next year,” said Jesse Bragg of Corporate Accountability.

Delivering the Goals of the Paris Agreement

This year 2018 can make it or break it for climate change as the Paris Agreement passes through its first test.

Front-runner countries and civil society representatives have presented a concrete road-map of how they are enhancing climate plans by 2020 in an attempt to push other states to commit to doing the same at the upcoming UN Climate negotiations (COP24) that will be held in Katowice, Poland.

Countries need to send a clear signal in COP24 that they will enhance their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2020 if the goal to keep warming below 1.5C is to be reached.

“I would say that COP24 in Katowice is probably the most critical meeting since Paris,” said Alden Meyer, Director, Strategy and Policy, Union of Concerned Scientists. “The world will be watching to see if countries are serious about implementing and strengthening the Paris Agreement. We have a mandate to adopt a package of rules to implement the Paris agreement across a range of issues”.

Civil Society Action

A day to end the Bonn talks, major civil society and non-party stakeholder groups demanded that government’s follow-up the Paris Agreement with increased urgent action to prevent average global warming from rising 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Groups highlighted that Parties must reinforce this Paris Agreement goal and commit to enhanced action as a matter of survival for vulnerable countries.

“For the world’s most vulnerable people keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees is not just a ‘nice to have’, it is essential to ensure they can maintain and improve their way of life,” said Mohamed Adow, International Climate Lead at Christian Aid.

The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) also noted that climate change should no longer be isolated to environmental and scientific issue.

It stated that the issues of poverty, justice, equity, economic, humanitarian, food security and political dimensions of climate change must not be overlooked.

“It has stunted the growth of some economies while big economies fear cutting emissions will affect them,” said Olivia Adhiambo, Policy and Advocacy Manager at PACJA.

As the 2020 implementation date of the Paris Agreement draws close, it is expected that big oil and coal interest groups and climate deniers do not succeed in their struggle to undo the progress made in the fight against the climate crisis.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

Developed countries will deliver on climate finance commitments, UN climate chief asserts

Negotiators and other interest groups at the ongoing UN climate change talks in Bonn, Germany, have been attempting to answer three questions – Where are we? Where do we want to go? How do we get there?

The process of answering these questions has been termed the “Talanoa Dialogue”, a Fijian concept of non-confrontational approach to finding solutions to deliver on the Paris Agreement on climate change.

UN climate chief, Patricia Espinosa, at a media roundtable, described progress at the talks is mixed though “the general atmosphere is very positive”.

She observed “people have come to the negotiations with the willingness to engage in the substantive issues that are before them”.

Climate finance is emerging as one the biggest issues in the negotiation process, in the quest to answer the question of “how do we get there?”

In addition to national emissions reduction targets, developed countries have made a collective promise of $100 billion a year of climate finance by 2020.

But poor and developing countries have their skepticism in the commitment to deliver on the promises to enable their vulnerable economies adapt to the impacts of climate change and redress the damages.

“Countries who have done the most to cause the climate problem must step up to deliver action and finance. They mustn't delude themselves that distant technologies will solve the climate problem in the future, letting them off the hook for climate action now”, said Teresa Anderson, ActionAid International.

The Africa Group of Negotiators has submitted that “we need to go to a world where developed countries stop making promises but live up to their promises”.

According to the group, financial support should include access to clean technology and expertise, and a significant increase in money from public sources and not simply offload finance to the private sector.

“We call on governments to lay the ground for stronger ambition to honour the Paris climate pact,” said Kimbowa Richard of Uganda’s Coalition for Sustainable Development.

Three years after the adoption of the Paris Agreement, there are expectations among many countries for clear indications how the $100billion climate finance will be delivered.

Patricia Espinosa acknowledged there are technical issues in negotiating climate finance but “I don’t see any denial of the commitments that have been made”.

She noted “the principle that developing countries need to be supported in order to deliver on their commitments under the Paris Agreement is absolutely unquestioned”.

Investors are using the climate risk assessment as guideline for the decisions they will be taking, says the UNFCCC.

“Now the truth is that even those 100billion will not be enough to financing the big transformation that is required in this agenda,” said the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC.

Patricia therefore believes the willingness for compliance will need to move beyond the UNFCCC process, by exploring the bigger picture in the implementation of the roadmap.

Climate change impacts are already visible in communities and exacerbating poverty in developing countries.

Outcomes of the Bonn Climate Talks would define progress to be made at the COP24 climate summit in Katowice, Poland later this year.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

VideoReport: Climate finance for development

Farmers and other vulnerable communities in Africa are among the first victims of climate change.

They rely on the weather and the environment in its entirety for their production and livelihoods.

Taking climate action will therefore help meet the goal of feeding people sustainably in a warming world.

However, climate finance has remained a challenge in the climate negotiations.

Kofi Adu Domfeh reports on the process so far in the 2018 Bonn Climate Talks and concerns being raised, especially by Africa.

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Video: Climate Health

Extreme heat leads to heart failure. 

At the 2018 #BonnClimateTalks, the International Federation of Medical Students’ Association (IFMSA) staged a campaign on #ClimateHealth. 

Sehee speaks on the climate impacts on health.




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