Simon Stiell addressed the opening of the UN June Climate Meetings in Bonn, Germany – an important step ahead of the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Turkiye this November.
“Tackling the global climate crisis is the hardest, but most important thing humanity has ever tried to do together,” he said.
“It is worth doing, because we have no choice. Every economy and population depends on it.”
Key meetings
The Bonn meetings take place annually in the lead-up to COP conferences, the latest of which was held in Belém, Brazil, last November.
Over the next two weeks, delegates will advance technical and political work as well as review progress on existing commitments.
The mid-year negotiations are being held against a backdrop of intensifying climate impacts and mounting pressures on countries linked to energy security, food systems and economic uncertainty.
Focus will be on issues such as adaptation, finance, the just transition to renewable energy, agriculture and food security, and follow-up to the first global stocktake towards achieving the Paris Agreement on climate change, concluded at COP28 in Dubai in December 2023.
‘We are not where we need to be’
Mr. Stiell noted that “climate action and the global economy are moving” although progress remains insufficient.
“We are not where we need to be. But we are somewhere we have never been before,” he said, adding that this hard work is starting to pay off.
“People the world over need this process to keep delivering, and at increasing speed and scale,” he said, adding that “we don’t have time to re-open past debates or renegotiate commitments already made.”
Fossil fuel dependence
He said people who are denied the benefits of climate action are already paying the price as deadly heat, El Niño impacts and “a fossil fuel cost crisis” sparked by the war in the Middle East impact households and economies worldwide.
“It’s crystal clear: continuing our fossil fuel dependency means continuing to import inflation and economic instability, while exporting energy security, sovereignty and policy autonomy, leaving economies and communities exposed to climate disasters, taking a wrecking ball to lives and prosperity everywhere,” he said.
Focus on delivery
Mr. Stiell urged countries to “go further, faster” by delivering fully on obligations and plans made under the Paris Agreement, the 2015 treaty that seeks to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Countries must first streamline the Paris process as “all institutions must continuously evolve and improve.”
They must advance key issues such as the Global Goal on Adaptation, the Belém Adaptation Indicators, delivering the outcomes of the first global stocktake, developing the just transition mechanism and finance, including the climate finance work programme to the Adaptation Fund.
Finally, they “must bring the work of this process closer to the real economy.” In this regard, he pointed to the Global Climate Action Agenda as a way to bring together governments, companies, innovators, investors, cities, regions and civil society to support implementation.
Make it count
Mr. Stiell also acknowledged calls by governments to make the UN climate process more efficient and easier to navigate.
He said the Secretariat was listening to concerns about mandates, access to climate finance and the reporting burden on Parties, including through wider efforts under the UN80 reform initiative.
“The Secretariat will always be there to advise and support you,” he said. “But ultimately, it’s your process, and your decisions to make.”
He urged delegates to use the Bonn meeting to address major challenges such as energy security, food security, waste reduction, strengthening the resilience of cities and tackling methane emissions.
“The hard work continues,” he said. “Make these two weeks count.”
