Climate conference in Bonn: Urgent call to action for the planet!

Climate conference in Bonn: Urgent call to action for the planet!

The Bonn Climate Conference closed its doors yesterday evening after almost two weeks of intensive negotiations. The event, a significant step towards the major climate conference in autumn 2023 in Belém, Brazil, once again brought the concerns of states from the Global South onto the agenda. The **Alliance of Small Island States** made it clear that global warming must be kept below 1.5 degrees Celsius, which is a key demand of the talks, such as taz reported.

Liliam Beatris Chagas de Moura, the Brazilian negotiator, exuded optimism. However, clear progress has been missed, particularly in the area of ​​fossil fuels. Many states like it Human Rights Watch noted, are actually planning to increase the production of fossil fuels, despite the fact that the last conference, COP28, enshrined a clear call to move away from these energy sources.

Critical points of the negotiations

The start to the conference was anything but smooth. Initially, countries in the Global South ensured a late start, which tested the patience of those present. What hardly anyone could overlook was the lack of financial commitments from industrialized nations to developing countries. Germany itself is planning to cut its development aid by 900 million euros, which undermines the credibility of existing promises.

Ana Toni, the chief organizer of the upcoming climate conference in Brazil, pointed out that global political developments in recent years are making negotiations more difficult. As understandable as the intentions are, there are still no firm commitments to support the Global South, and that is likely to cause conflict.

Environmental movement and social responsibility

Vegan meals set an example in front of the conference grounds, while activists read out the names of the victims in the Gaza Strip, highlighting the social dimension of the climate problem. Greenpeace highlights that fossil fuels are responsible for more than 80 percent of global CO2 emissions and calls for an immediate phase-out. However, no concrete progress has been made in this direction in the hectic negotiations.

A bright spot, however, was the agreement on criteria for measuring climate adaptation, even if there are still many contentious points. The poorest countries have demanded $120 billion in annual demand from developed countries to adapt to climate, with many countries not even updating their national climate targets.

Given the challenges, the question arises as to whether the upcoming COP30 in Belém can provide the necessary answers to the climate crisis. Brazil has a responsibility to demand clear measures to transform the adopted fossil fuel phase-out plan not only into words, but also into actions. A black mark could be the lack of substantial commitments from the major industrial nations, which will ultimately put global climate protection to the test Greenpeace feared.