Bonn Climate Conference ends with progress on 'several critical issues'

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The Bonn Climate Conference ended on Thursday after two weeks of work and progress on "several critical issues," the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said.

The global stocktake, climate finance, and loss and damage and adaptation were among the topics in which progress was made and helped to lay the groundwork for the political decisions required at the coming UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) at the end of the year, the UNFCCC said in a statement.

"Having taken nearly two weeks to agree (on) an agenda, it is easy to believe we are far apart on many issues. But from what I have seen and heard, there are bridges that can be built to realize the common ground we know exists," said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell.

"World-changing agreements happen when negotiators rise to the occasion, reach out and find compromises, then manage to convince their capitals of the merit and necessity of those compromises," Stiell added.

He highlighted the global stocktake, which will finish at COP28, as an opportunity to reverse course and get the world back on track to limit temperature rises in accordance with the Paris Agreement.

Delegates at the Bonn summit completed the final round of the first global stocktake technical conversation, setting the groundwork for more aggressive climate action, according to the statement.

"Pledges by parties and their implementation are far from enough," Stiell said. "So the response to the stocktake will determine our success – the success of COP28, and far more importantly, success in stabilizing our climate."

In Bonn, government delegates, observers and experts discussed how to accelerate collective progress on mitigation, including response measures, adaptation, loss and damage and means of implementation -- climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building.

Other debates centered on climate finance, namely the supply of adequate and predictable financial support to developing nations for climate action, as well as the establishment of a new collective quantified objective for climate finance in 2024, it said.

Additionally, parties agreed on structural elements for a Dubai decision on the global goal of adaptation.

The conference drew over 4,800 participants from all over the world. This year's COP28 will take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from Nov. 30 to Dec.12.