Latest UN climate talks fail to make progress; climate finance divides debate

The United Nations climate talks in Bonn, Germany, have ended in tension and frustration as negotiators failed to make progress in advancing agreements ahead of COP28 later this year.

 

The intersessional conference – held at the midway point between the annual Conference of Parties (COP) – is designed to act as a check on how talks are advancing, and to build on the mandates that emerged from COP27 in Egypt last year.

 

Central to discussions were the issues of climate adaptation, mitigation, loss and damage, and the global stocktake – a flagship product of the 2015 Paris Agreement where governments will review their progress on climate action.

 

It had been hoped that the talks would yield draft decisions for adoption at COP28 in UAE in December 2023, however negotiators failed to agree even on the starting agenda for the talks until the day before the two-week session was due to close. 

 

Developing countries argued that climate finance should feature prominently on the agenda, while developed nations countered that the agenda item was proposed too late, and that finance is discussed elsewhere in the talks.

 

The situation prompted veteran diplomat Nabeel Munir, who was overseeing the talks, to compare those present to a bickering primary school class, urging delegates to “please wake up, what is happening around you is unbelievable”.

 

Tensions were already running high ahead of the start of the talks due to concerns about the presidency of the forthcoming COP28. The United Arab Emirates COP president-designate Sultan Al Jaber has faced significant criticism due to his role as chief executive of the country’s national oil company Adnoc.

 

Last month, more than 130 European and US lawmakers published an open letter calling for Al Jaber to be removed from the role arguing that having the head of one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies as COP president risked undermining the negotiations.

Little progress

Despite disagreements about how heavily climate finance should feature on the agenda, it nonetheless dominated proceedings, with higher income countries accused of dodging their financial climate obligations.

Developed countries had previously promised to deliver $100bn/year in climate finance by 2020 – a figure that has not been met. Earlier this month, Oxfam claimed developed countries had spent just $24.5bn on international climate finance in 2020, and accused many nations of overstating their commitments.

 

Chief among discussions was the progression of a loss and damage fund – designed to support nations struck by climate-related disasters – which was secured at COP27. The decision involved setting up a transitional committee to develop both the fund itself and other ‘funding arrangements’ to support relevant action. 

 

However, negotiators at Bonn were unable to agree on a framework for the fund. Developed nations want to focus on the ‘funding arrangements’ outside the fund itself, which could include finance from multilateral development banks, insurance schemes and humanitarian organisations. Developing countries, however, want the fund to operate entirely under the umbrella of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), and be funded by contributions and grants from developed countries, rather than loans.

 

Additionally, no decision was made on whether the global stocktake should emphasise the historic responsibility of richer nations for their emissions, or have more forward-looking language.

A lack of cooperation

As the talks closed, UN Secretary-General António Guterres made clear his disappointment with the event’s outcome.

 

“Countries are far off-track in meeting climate promises and commitments,” he said. “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.”

 

NGOs and campaigners have been left dismayed by the talks’ failings, with an analysis by NGO CARE International revealing that “there is no chance of achieving 50/50 balanced financial support for climate mitigation and adaptation in the near future”.

 

“UN climate talks this week exposed a gaping hole in the funding needed to pay for climate action,” said Teresa Anderson, ActionAid International’s global lead on climate justice. “Developing countries are being pushed deeper into debt by the costs of climate disasters, but the promised funding to cope with climate impacts and scale up green technologies still hasn’t appeared.”

 

Sara Shaw, climate justice & energy coordinator at Friends of the Earth International, said: “It is of grave concern that while rich countries have blocked discussions on climate finance and equity at every turn during these talks, carbon markets are quietly progressing. Big polluters must be delighted.”

 

She added that COP28 looks to be a “huge fight” between developed and developing countries. “As we look to COP28, it is obvious that developed countries will want to blame developing countries for lack of progress, for fighting over agendas. But agenda fights are a symptom of a deeper injustice. Developing countries are fighting for the climate finance that is not only their due, but which is required to ensure a just transition to a new renewable energy system for all.”

 

Responding to this narrative, the UN’s executive secretary for climate change, Simon Stiell, said: “Climate change is not a North versus South issue. It is a tidal wave that does not discriminate. The only way we can avoid being swallowed by it is by investing in climate action.

 

“All national budgets are constrained, but this is not a question about prudent spending. Make it your mission to highlight this to your treasuries and cabinets. We will simply fail at our task if we do not change the conversation about finance at every moment between now and the COP.”

 

Ahead of COP28, which begins on 30 November, the UN will host a new additional summit in September, where nations will be asked to put forward ‘credible, serious and new’ plans aligned with the Paris Agreement.

 

According to Guterres, the new ‘Climate Ambition Summit’ will be “a no-nonsense summit. No exceptions. No compromises. There will be no room for back-sliders, greenwashers, blame-shifters or repackaging of announcements of previous years.”

 

Further reading UNCC’s Bonn Climate Change Conference website Oxfam’s Climate Finance Shadow Report 2023 CARE International’s analysis on adaptation and mitigation finance COP28 website The Climate Ambition Summit