Bonn Climate Summit: UN Climate Chief Says 1.5 degrees Celsius Goal Still Within Reach

UN Climate Chief Simon Stiell on June 16 said that many of the world's largest economies are showing positive signs of action on climate change and that keeping global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius is still possible despite a year dotted by climate extremities.

At the opening of the mid-year UN climate conference in Bonn, Germany, Stiell said that worsening climate impacts in every country underscores the need for continued cooperation.

"This year, beneath the noisier negative news, there are plenty of good reasons for optimism. We are seeing green lights for climate actions from many of the world's biggest economies, sending powerful demand signals to investors and doers," he said.

Stiell stated that countries must use the Bonn talks to finalise indicators for the Global Goal on Adaptation.

Negotiators in Bonn must "deep-dive" to create a roadmap for mobilising $1.3 trillion annually by 2035 to help developing countries fight climate change, he said.

At COP29 in Azerbaijan's Baku last November, countries agreed to triple climate finance to $300 billion a year by 2035, part of a broader goal to mobilise $1.3 trillion.

In Bonn, countries are expected to begin consultations on the "Baku to Belem Roadmap", which will guide the delivery of this goal.

Stiell urged countries to ensure that the Mitigation Work Programme -- established at COP26 in Glasgow to urgently scale up mitigation ambition -- builds momentum for "actionable solutions that respond to the urgency".

At COP28 in Dubai, countries completed the first Global Stocktake -- a two-year review of the collective global progress towards achieving the Paris Agreement goals -- and decided to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, double the global rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030 and transition away from fossil fuels.

Stiell said countries must also make progress on the outcomes of the first Global Stocktake at Bonn.

"None of these issues are easy. Disagreement is natural," Stiell said, adding that the progress made in the next 10 days will make a "very real" difference to billions of lives and livelihoods in every country.

He said that recent COPs have all produced concrete, major global steps forward.

"Even if imperfect, even if no country gets everything it wants, this is human solidarity in action... Without UN-convened climate multilateralism, we would be headed for up to 5 degrees Celsius of global heating. Now it's around 3. A reminder that 1.5 and protecting all people continue to be both achievable over the course of time and utterly essential," the UN climate change chief said.

What is Bonn Climate Conference?

The Bonn Climate Conference is an annual mid-year meeting that takes place under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) — an international agreement, signed in 1992, that has provided a basis for climate negotiations.

According to The Indian Express, it plays a crucial role in forming climate finance frameworks, adaptation targets and mitigation progress especially following the first Global Stocktake completed at COP28 in Dubai.

(With inputs from PTI.)