By Janet Ekstract
ISTANBUL-The Bonn Climate Change Conference got underway on Monday with representatives from 200 countries under the auspices of the U.N. as a precursor to COP28 to be held in Dubai in December. The goal of the 10-day meeting is designed to prepare decisions for adoption at COP28. It’s also considered a check on how climate talks will be formulated in December as well as a way for member states to gauge where leaders stand regarding climate commitments. Executive Secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) Simon Stiell told a news conference Monday: “What we experienced today..with the non-adoption of the agenda, it’s not desirable, but it’s not uncommon in a party-driven process.”
COP28 is expected to be the most significant climate conference since Paris, Stiell said because it gives the world an opportunity to get on track to meet the 2015 Paris climate protection commitments. He highlighted how crucial the next 10 days will be to make progress on an agenda and major issues to be covered. Stiell said the Bonn conference will set the technical groundwork for political decisions required in Dubai, Meanwhile, the European Union is pondering the issue of phasing out fossil fuels and another major issue is plastics that will require a treaty. At the opening of talks in Bonn, Chair of the U.N. Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) said that even after months of discussions since COP27 in Egypt that there hasn’t been a concrete agreement on adopting agendas proposed by the COP permanent subsidiary bodies for the Bonn conference.
One of the toughest issues is certain to be the phasing out of fossil fuel which the EU is currently considering. Stiell acknowledged that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is clear that cutting emissions in half by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050 requires a steep decrease and phasing out of all fossil fuel. Some countries including Saudi Arabia and China, urged Egypt not to include such language in the final text while Stiell said he wasn’t pushing COP28 president-designate Sultan al-Jaber to put fossil fuel phaseout on the Dubai conference agenda. But he added that the U.N. chief’s position is unwavering on this issue.
Bonn’s conference will hold tlaks on climate change policy issues that include what is known as global stocktake at COP28 – a review of countries’ collective progress every five years on each country’s climate commitments. It’s a first of its kind procedure since the Paris Agreement in 2015. The 2022 climate summit COP27 in Egypt, saw over 80 nations in attendance that included the EU and small island nations then had agreed to include language that would call for a phase-down of all fossil fuel.
