We Can Do Better: Bonn Convention

Government representatives from around the world are meeting in Bonn these days , until 16 June to prepare the 27th Climate Change Conference (COP27) due to take place in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt in November this year. These negotiations at working level are extremely important. For decisions are made unanimously at the Climate Change Conferences. Positions therefore have to be explored in advance in order to prepare political decisions. The aim of the negotiations in Bonn, therefore, is to agree on an ambitious agenda for the forthcoming Climate Change Conference on reducing greenhouse gases. This includes strengthening solidarity with especially vulnerable countries. The aim of the negotiations are to launch a concrete working programme for more climate protection and solidarity in climate change mitigation. After all, the people who are suffering most from the climate crisis are those who have contributed least to it.

Expectations:

Developing countries have high expectations for progress regarding the Glasgow Dialogue on loss and damage and the Glasgow–Sharm el-Sheikh work programme on the global goal on adaptation. Since they are the worst effected by climate Impacts and their role in climate change is almost negligible and they don’t have any historical responsibility like developed nations of causing the climate change.

What is on the agenda?

Far-reaching adaptations are needed to ensure that the 1.5°C temperature limit is not exceeded. To reach this goal, the working programme on reducing greenhouse gases by 2030 will be negotiated in Bonn. Another important issue is the negotiations on climate-related loss and damage. After all, poor and vulnerable groups in the least developed countries are those most affected by climate change. Given their low levels of greenhouse gas emissions, however, they are only responsible for global warming to a limited degree.

Global Finance:

The aim is to work out technical solutions for developing countries to enable them to deal better with climate-related loss and damage and to identify the corresponding needs. In the Glasgow Dialogue, questions regarding the funding of support measures in connection with loss and damage are discussed among countries, civil society and experts.

The negotiations on aligning global financial flows with the goals of the Paris Agreement is also on the agenda. Development banks in particular, but also private investment, must contribute towards a sustainable transformation of societies. What is more, the delegations are preparing the Global Stocktake. From 2023 onwards, there will be a review every five years of where the world stands with regard to climate change mitigation.

Implementation:

In addition to the annual Conference of the Parties, there are two subsidiary bodies of the Convention on Climate Change: the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technical Advice (SBSTA) as well as the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI). While the Conference of the Parties takes place regularly once a year, the meetings of the subsidiary bodies are held twice a year. At these meetings, the delegates discuss the implementation of the Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.

About Bonn:

Bonn has been the seat of the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) since 1995. Its task is to provide administrative and logistical support for the Parties to COP and the Climate Change Conferences.

High-Level Climate Champions: Resilience & Actions :

Durin the conference , The High-Level Champions — frontline communities suffering from severe impacts of climate change along with alongside other collaborators — will report on how they are responding to the call by Parties in the Glasgow Climate Pact for “non-governmental organisations and private sources, to provide enhanced and additional support for activities addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change. They, alongside other collaborators, will demonstrate how they will bring worthwhile contributions across the different areas of Global Stocktake’s Technical Dialogue, so as to help inform the enhancement of climate action. The Climate Action Pathways set out sectoral visions for achieving a 1.5°C resilient world in 2050, with overarching transformational milestones

The writer of this article is Dr. Seema Javed, a known Environmentalist, Journalist and Communications Expert