Reflections from week one at the Bonn Climate Conference 2025
Our Senior Director of Climate Diplomacy, Emma Fenton attended the first of two weeks at this year’s Subsidiary Body meetings (SB62) in Bonn. After a week packed full of discussions, they reflect on the key themes that emerged.
Photo: UN Climate Change - Lara Murillo
What is the Bonn Climate Conference?
The June meetings are meetings of the bodies established under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They provide opportunities for country delegates to make progress on agenda items in advance of the 2025 UN climate change conference (COP 30) in November. It gives Member States involved in the UNFCCC process the opportunity for dialogue, knowledge-sharing and consensus building.
My five top takeaways from SB62 in Bonn
1. Let’s embrace the spirit of Mutirão
In a year plagued with what UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell described as ‘geopolitical headwinds’ we see more than ever the importance of the spirit of Mutirão. This was launched during the Panama Climate Week and championed by the incoming Brazilian COP Presidency.
Mutirão is variously described as a pooling of resource, an ‘all hands on deck’ approach or the very essence of collaboration. However you choose to interpret it, it is clear that in order to protect the very purpose of UN climate multilateralism we must approach the coming negotiations – both inside the UN and out – with exactly this sense of collective ambition.
In practice this must mean that climate vulnerable countries are resourced and present at all of these key decision-making moments. This is why Opportunity Green continues to call for contributions to the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Voluntary Multi-Donor Trust Fund that supports negotiators to attend meetings. This is also what motivates us to continue to provide research and briefings that can help evidence the climate ambition that is called for in multilateral spaces.
2. The downward adjustment must be more ambitious
The Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) is the framework established through Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement for the validation and issuance of carbon credits between countries. It establishes the framework for an international carbon market by enabling countries and other actors to work towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions by generating high-integrity carbon credits.
The ‘downward adjustment’ mechanism is introduced in recognition of the fact that – if global emissions reduce annually – the number of carbon credits issued globally must be reduced by a commensurate amount. This will avoid a scenario where countries or industry players can ‘pay to pollute’ whilst continuing to increase emissions.
On carbon markets, the PACM presented on the package of work undertaken so far. The good news is that the downward adjustment (explained earlier) is finally and concretely coming to life. But in the context of overall climate ambition, a downward adjustment of 1% is simply not enough to deliver the Paris Agreement or stay within the long-term temperature goal of 1.5 degrees.
Furthermore, the premise of exempting projects from the downward adjustment is very worrying. It raises the vital question: if a project is not economically viable under a downward adjustment scenario then should it even be credited? Such exemptions undermine the rigour and credibility of a hard-fought agreement.
In real terms it would see:
Projects that do not actually contribute carbon reductions accredited under the PACM.
Assumptions about the longevity of carbon reductions overstating the effect of the credits.
A decrease in the overall effectiveness of the mechanism itself.
3. There’s a role for private sector in climate finance
The New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG) is the target that was negotiated and agreed under the UNFCCC at last year’s COP in Baku. It outlines a more ambitious and realistic framework for developed countries to support developing countries financially. It was agreed that developed countries need to mobilise at least $300bn (USD) per year by 2035 with the goal of scaling up overall climate finance (including contributions from the private sector) to $1.3tn by 2035.
Attention now turns to its implementation. The agreed $300bn is described by many as woefully inadequate, and leaves space for new actors to step into the climate finance landscape.
At SB62, I heard at multiple side events the recognition of the role of the private sector, regional development banks and wider international finance institutions in reaching the $1.3tn overarching target. Attention has now turned to the NDC3.0 documents that countries must submit in September to unlock this finance and create ‘investable pathways’ for mitigation activity and establish the fiscal enabling environment that will leverage private investment into these essential climate activities.
Incentive to mobilise the private sector can materialise in two ways:
1) Demonstrating the economic potential of investing in climate action – just as World Resources Institute (WRI) have done.
2) Ensuring that companies are contributing for their emissions – just as happened at the IMO (even though the mechanism agreed will have limited impact) and that we hope to see introduced at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) later this year.
4. It pays to spend on climate, but the money must go to the right places
Week 1 of SB62 saw a side event from the World Resources Institute presenting their new report on the investment case for adaptation. It demonstrates the return on investment possible from funding adaptation activities with every $1 invested in adaptation realising more than $10.50 in benefits over a 10-year horizon.
Money talks when it comes to climate, and it seems as though the private sector has started to listen; but how – and where – we spend that money is an essential consideration if we are to put people and justice at the heart of the climate transition.
This was made devastatingly clear when the IMO reached an agreement to put a price on maritime emissions through the IMO Net-Zero Framework. While it was a historic moment for multilateralism, the actual agreement fell far short of the level of ambition called for to raise meaningful revenues for climate finance.
Article 2.1(c) of the Paris Agreement aims to ‘make finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development’. However, what is missing is a commitment to a just and equitable transition that leaves no one behind – and we see this oversight in the global energy transition hearing from the International Energy Agency that four out of every five dollars invested in the global energy transition is invested in Developed Countries and China, leaving just 20% of global investment for climate vulnerable and least developed countries. Just because finance is available, doesn’t mean it is being distributed in a way that upholds the principles of equity and justice that are entrenched in the UNFCCC convention.
We look to the forthcoming meetings of the IMO in October. These will start negotiations on the flow of finance from the Framework to ensure that it supports a just and equitable transition, building adaptation and resilience in climate vulnerable countries.
5. When it comes to fuel bunkering negotiations – all eyes are on aviation
You could be forgiven for missing the informal consultation on the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technical Advice (SBSTA) agenda item 13(b). Typically regarded as a procedural formality it is where Member States hear progress updates from the UN institutions responsible for international shipping and aviation.
What was of particular interest was states’ reflections that they remain committed to ensure that these high-emitting, hard to abate and internationally-regulated industries meet their pledges to bring emissions to net zero by 2050 and in a way that remains aligned with the 1.5°C Paris Agreement goal alive.
With the IMO Net-Zero Framework drafted in April we saw how UN negotiations can set out to meet the very highest climate ambitions but fall short right at the finish. This year sees a huge opportunity to build on the precedent set at the IMO and push for greater ambition for the aviation sector at the ICAO Assembly in September.
Read our glossary of climate change negotiations terminology to learn more about climate negotiations.
