Bonn Climate Conference

Bonn Climate Conference

Subject: Environment

Section: Conventions

Context: The United Nations’ mid-year climate change conference commenced in Bonn, Germany, with a stand-off between developing and developed countries on the issue of loss and damage (L&D).

Concept:

• The Bonn summit, also known as the 56th session of the subsidiary bodies (SB 56) is led by two technical committees — the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI).
• It will take forward action items announced at CoP26 in Glasgow last November and advance some of the more technical and operational discussions in time for the 27th Conference of Parties (CoP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is scheduled to take place in Sharm el-Shaikh, Egypt, this November.
• A stand-off occurred because developing countries complained that no commitments were being made to provide any kind of written inputs or have any concrete outcomes about L&D finance.

Background:

• L&D finance refers to money given to communities who are facing the brunt of the climate crisis today through displacement or destruction of their livelihoods — climate reparations, in other words.
• It all started when a request from theG77+China bloc of countries was put forth to add two agenda items to the official conference agenda — one on the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) and one on the Glasgow Dialogue on L&D Finance.
• The objective of adding agenda items into the sessions is to try to get draft text so that it is not just a dialogue but rather something that countries can tangibly carry on towards CoP27.
• Developing countries wanted to ensure that climate adaption and L&D were given as much attention as climate mitigation through the conference.
• Moreover, Developing countries, who are historically the smallest polluters when considering greenhouse gas emissions, have solely championed L&D as an issue. Developed countries, on the other hand, have shied away from L&D for years, owing to the potential for endless litigation.
• Thus, CoP26 had ended with the vague promise of a “dialogue” that developed countries would engage in to determine how to offer financial assistance for the climate damages they have wrought.