The United Nations’ Conference of the Parties, or COP, which hosts annual negotiations that draw tens of thousands of top government officials, activists, and journalists every year, is understood to be the world’s primary conduit for international climate action. But a related UN conference held in Bonn, Germany, every summer is no less important. In this quieter, more technical affair, diplomats and climate negotiators haggle over the details necessary to turn the splashy promises made at COP into reality.
But those who attended this week’s conference in Bonn, which concluded on Thursday, say that negotiators made only halting progress. While diplomats made headway on measures to help countries adapt to the effects of global warming and prepare their workers for the energy transition, they stalled out on two critical issues that could derail negotiations at COP30, this year’s United Nations climate conference in Belém, Brazil, in November. As a result, there is still little clarity on the path to mobilizing $1.3 trillion in climate-related funding for developing nations, a key promise made at COP29 in B... Read more
