The Brazilian diplomats presiding over the COP30 climate summit in November have said they want an “early harvest” at June’s mid-year climate negotiations in Bonn, aiming to secure agreements on two key issues that were left unresolved at COP29 last year.
Brazil’s lead climate diplomat Liliam Chagas told reporters this week she is seeking “real advances in the Bonn sessions” on the fledgling Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP) and recommendations from the 2023 Global Stocktake (GST) of government climate action, so that decisions to move them forward can be approved at COP30.
The JTWP is a series of dialogues on how to make the transition to a greener world fair while the GST discussions focus on how the world’s governments should respond to being collectively off track to meet their goal to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial times.
Negotiators began talks at Climate Week, a UN event held in Panama this week, using an informal format called “world café” – grouping them in tables to discuss issues such as the role of Indigenous people and communities, economic drivers and social protections.
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Late last year, at COP29 in Baku, governments were split over what aspects of fairness the JTWP should tackle and whether finance should be included, as well as on whether transitioning away from fossil fuels should be mentioned in texts on how to take the GST forward.
Chagas said these issues had not been settled at COP29 because separate talks there on a new finance goal had proven so “lengthy and difficult”, but added that she was now trying to bring a “sense of urgency” to officials.
“These decisions, at this point in the year, they are something that will show that the COP process works [and] is resilient,” she said, adding that she wants to “early harvest some of the decisions in order to not leave everything for [COP30] in November”.
The COP30 Presidency expressed similar sentiments in its third open letter to negotiators released on Friday.
Global stocktake
The GST was a review of progress on climate change carried out in 2023 which found that, while government action had reduced the amount of global warming expected, it was still insufficient to limit average temperature rise to 1.5C.
At the COP28 climate talks in Dubai at the end of that year, governments jointly agreed to respond to this by calling on each other to take measures like tripling renewable energy capacity and transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems.
But the next year at COP29, they failed to include the same language on renewables and fossil fuels in the outcomes of a planned “UAE dialogue” on how to implement the recommendations of the GST. Saudi Arabia, which COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago visited on Friday, opposed any mention of fossil fuels in formal texts at COP29.
The Baku summit ended without agreement on the GST, with Chile’s lead negotiator Julio Cordano telling the closing plenary he was “concerned to see attempts to backtrack the agreements made last year”.
In its latest letter, the COP30 Presidency said the GST is “our guide to Mission 1.5”, a collective roadmap to keep to the 1.5C warming limit – and responding to it should include accelerating the global energy transition and halting and reversing deforestation and forest degradation by 2030.
“We must support one another to advance collectively on tripling renewable energy capacity globally, doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements, and transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly, and equitable manner,” said the letter.
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COP30 CEO Ana Toni told negotiators at Panama’s Climate Week that governments must now figure out the details of how they plan to achieve the GST, discussing options for support in the form of new regulations, finance and capacity-building.
“If in the past people thought that federal governments going from COP to COP and just having the (Paris Agreement) rulebook would be enough, we know that it is not enough. We need to go from commitments from companies, governments and civil society now to action,” Toni emphasised.
Mexican lead negotiator Camila Zepeda welcomed this approach during a panel discussion at Climate Week and said the Dubai agreement would be the “north star” of Mexico’s new nationally determined contribution, an emissions-cutting plan that all countries must deliver before September.
Andreas Sieber, associate director of global policy and campaigns at advocacy group 350.org, praised the Brazilians for “finally pivoting to a language of delivery” and for linking the GST decision to tripling renewables and phasing out fossil fuels.
But “political signals alone won’t deliver outcomes,” he added. He called on them to “exercise clear, strategic diplomacy and throw [their] full political weight behind securing an ambitious formal COP30 outcome that actually accelerates the Global Stocktake and energy transition”.
Just Transition Work Programme
Governments also failed to reach agreement on the JTWP in Baku last year, with divisions on issues of human and labour rights, measures seen as restricting free trade, adaptation and emissions reductions.
A major bone of contention was whether to designate finance to support plans for a just transition, with developing countries wanting funding included and developed countries opposed.
Negotiations on this issue fell down the COP29 presidency’s list of priorities as the talks on the new finance goal became heated. It set up a last-minute contact group and presented a final draft to save the JTWP, but no agreement was reached.
After Baku setback, activists call for ‘just transition’ to be front and centre at COP30
The COP30 Presidency’s letter this week called the JTWP “a dynamic concept of paramount relevance to people’s real lives”, adding “let’s build on the discussions from COP29 and demonstrate ambition to agree on the scope and focus for this powerful concept”.
Anabella Rosemberg, who follows JTWP discussions for Climate Action Network International, said “the pace [of negotiations] will have to be accelerated to make up for the lost time since COP29”.
But, she added, “a solid agreement” on just transition is “within reach”. “The COP30 Presidency is sending the right signal,” she said. “Time for governments to seize the opportunity.”
Global goal on adaptation
The third negotiating track highlighted by the new COP30 letter is the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), which it said should be “a robust framework to track collective progress”.
Corrêa do Lago told reporters that adaptation – meaning becoming more resilient to the impacts of climate change – “has become absolutely central because climate change change is here”.
The GGA is a set of 11 targets for adaptation which government negotiators are hoping to agree how to measure, using a set of indicators which they must fix at COP30, after slow progress at COP29.
Negotiators have been divided on whether to include adaptation finance to meet these goals, with developed countries against and developing nations in favour.
Governments have also struggled to agree on how to define, measure and track progress on broad issues like how improved water supply or sanitation can help people adjust better to climate change.
Baku-Belém roadmap
One issue that will not be negotiated, Corrêa do Lago clarified to reporters, is the Baku-Belém roadmap on how to mobilise $1.3 trillion a year of climate finance from all sources, in addition to an agreed $300 billion of public finance annually by 2035.
The COP30 top diplomat said he would work with Azerbaijan’s COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev to launch this roadmap at COP30, after extensive consultation with governments – including finance ministers – and other “stakeholders” around the world. A draft roadmap will be published on September 8. “I believe it can be a very interesting document but we’re still in listening mode,” he said.
Azerbaijani lead negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev told Climate Week’s opening ceremony that success “will now depend less on what governments agree and more on what nations deliver”.
Comment: Let’s use early milestones to stay focused on climate action
“We are calling on donors to set out how they will deliver their fair share of the $300bn that they pledged in Baku. We are making sure that they are focused on early milestones,” said Rafiyev, who added that as part of that, developed countries must double adaptation finance this year compared to 2019 levels and by 2030 reach the $300bn climate finance target.
Juan Carlos Navarro, environment minister of Panama and host of Climate Week, demanded “clear targets” on the financial contributions of developed nations, adding that “only if we have clarity and achieve concrete outcomes will we be able to succeed”.
Call to avoid agenda fight
Previous mid-year climate talks in Bonn have been marked by lengthy debates on what should be on the agenda. For example, in 2023, a debate over how to include finance and emissions-cutting measures in the formal discussions continued for seven days.
At COP28 and COP29, a proposal by the BASIC group of emerging economies – which includes Brazil – to discuss the EU and US’s alleged “unilateral restrictive trade measures” proved controversial and eventually unsuccessful.
The COP30 Presidency’s letter this week said it is “advisable to avoid introducing potentially contentious new agenda items that could further burden the [UN climate negotiation] process or detract from agreed priorities”.
The letter also acknowledged “ongoing calls for COPs reform” and said that, as COPs are moving from “a negotiation-centered to an implementation-centered era”, governments should “consider the future of the process itself” – and come up with solutions to challenges like an excessive number of agenda items and barriers that prevent the participation of smaller country delegations.
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Brazil seeks early deals on two stalled issues at Bonn climate talks
As an extreme El Niño breaks marine temperature records, COP31 is set to boost the profile of the ocean’s role in solving climate change, but finance and clear conservation measures will be needed for it to move the needle, experts said.
The Turkish presidency has announced plans for an Antalya Ocean Declaration that recognises the centrality of the global ocean – the world’s largest carbon sink – in regulating the climate and minimising the now unavoidable overshoot of global temperatures above 1.5C over pre-industrial levels.
Meanwhile, as part of the formal UN negotiations, Australia has announced plans to land a cover decision in Antalya, which, according to veteran former US negotiator Sue Biniaz, would be the only section of the formal negotiations where the role of oceans could be included.
She added that an outcome at COP31 seems likely, given the initiative from both presidencies and a push from over 100 countries – including Brazil, the EU and the African Group of countries – calling for the UN negotiations to deliver a plan for implementing ocean measures.
Governments will arrive in Antalya with a “super El Niño” adding stress to marine ecosystems and expected to continue to intensify until December 2026, with parts of the Pacific averaging almost 30C (86F) – over 3C more than normal – in October, according to monthly EU sea temperature data.
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COP31 Briefing: What to expect from the Antalya climate summit?
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Nepal seeks stronger recognition of mountain issues in UN climate process
Flood-hit Nepal wants COP31 to adopt a new agenda item formalising work on mountains and climate change and boosting the response to rising risks
Needs for ocean conservation and funding
While elevating the ocean agenda is “critical”, it must lead to funding for ocean conservation and a clear plan for reaching the global target – set at UN biodiversity talks in 2022 – of protecting 30% of the global ocean by 2030, said Pradeep Singh, senior ocean governance expert at Oceano Azul Foundation.
The ocean is precisely where governments are farthest off track from meeting this target – informally known as the 30×30 goal. Even if countries meet all their nature conservation plans, only about 12% of the global ocean would be protected, the UN says.
“Acknowledgment of marine protected areas and the 30×30 target as climate infrastructures will certainly boost efforts and funding for science and management,” Singh told Climate Home News.
Shamini Selvaratnam, director of international climate and clean energy at Ocean Conservancy, said an ocean commitment that makes a difference in coastal communities “takes funding, local capacity and support that countries can actually access”.
An analysis by climate think tank Zero Carbon Analytics shows that investment in the blue economy – through activities like sustainable fisheries or cleaner shipping – is only at about 2% of the needs, which are estimated at $550 billion per year.
Following-through on commitments
Selvaratnam added that countries must also establish mechanisms to follow through on these measures, which currently only exists in the form of a non-binding dialogue that is not expected to produce any negotiated agreements.
She said that countries at COP31 must find ways for their ocean commitments to inform the next global stocktake, the UN’s five-yearly review of progress on climate action. Some countries – including African countries, Latin American nations, small island states and the European Union – have backed a process that culminates in the next global stocktake.
At climate negotiations, countries are not mandated to include ocean conservation measures in their climate plans. But a group of countries led by France and Brazil is pushing them to do so voluntarily through an initiative called Blue NDC Challenge. Seventeen countries have joined the initiative so far.
In its list of COP31 priorities, the EU has called for the “critical role” of oceans to be recognised, but falls short of calling for any specific actions to feature marine action more prominently in climate plans.
As part of their demands, ocean campaign groups have called for the establishment of an “Antalya Ocean Compact”, a platform where countries can coordinate efforts across different environmental treaties, including the UN climate, biodiversity and high seas negotiations.
Ultimately, Selvaratnam said a strong deal “must accelerate emissions cuts, clean energy, and a transition away from fossil fuels, including offshore oil and gas”.
Ilana Seid, chair of the AOSIS group of small island states and permanent representative of Palau to the UN, said during a press briefing last week that “meaningful progress” on emissions reduction is “the best way” to alleviate stress on the ocean.
The post ‘Blue COP31’ set to spotlight need for ocean protections amid record heat appeared first on Climate Home News.
‘Blue COP31’ set to spotlight need for ocean protections amid record heat
In the wake of its recent glacial flooding disaster, Nepal and the kingdom of Bhutan have proposed a new agenda item on mountains and climate change for the COP31 summit which opens on Monday in the Turkish city of Antalya.
In a submission addressed to the COP31 presidency and the head of the UN climate secretariat (UNFCCC), Nepal said the agenda item, entitled “1.5°C Warming in Mountains”, is an effort to strengthen the response of the international community to the climate risks facing the world’s mountain regions.
The item proposes that mountain issues should become a regular part of the formal UN climate change process, with a focus on scientific assessment of the risks associated with warming overshooting 1.5C, an annual high-level dialogue, a dedicated work programme and improved access to climate finance.
Maheshwar Dhakal, chief of the climate change management division of Nepal’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Environment, told Climate Home News that Himalayan countries face similar problems such as collapsing glaciers and flooding from glacial lakes.
“We are trying to bring all Himalayan countries together under this agenda item,” he said.
COP31 Briefing: What to expect from the Antalya climate summit?
At this year’s UN General Assembly, Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah called for strong global action to ensure climate justice and proposed creating a Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism led by India, China and Nepal. It would share satellite data, monitor glacial slopes and lakes, strengthen early warning systems and coordinate cross-border disaster response.
Nepal has experienced significant infrastructure losses and human casualties from flooding every year since 2020. In late August, the collapse of a glacial slope on the border with Tibet caused a torrent of water and debris to course down the Bhote Koshi River, leaving more than 6,000 people dead or missing.
According to a government needs assessment, the disaster caused an estimated $2.7 billion in physical damage and economic losses, while around $4.8 billion will be required for recovery and reconstruction.
More research needed on threats
Although high mountain regions are known to be fragile ecosystems, especially as global warming accelerates glacier melt, the extent of their vulnerability is still not fully understood. When the devastating Bhote Koshi floods hit, it opened the eyes of the world to the risks.
Dhakal said the Bhote Koshi floods “have proved the impacts of climate change in the Himalayan region”, which were linked to rising temperatures by scientists with the World Weather Attribution group. “Therefore, Nepal wants scientific studies, research and political discussions on mountain climate risks to receive greater attention at international climate conferences,” he added.
Nepal has been making efforts on this front since 2009, when it held a cabinet meeting at Kalapatthar near Mount Everest. Since COP28 in Dubai, Nepal has organised high-level events and dialogues on mountain issues at COPs and is co-hosting one at COP31 with Bhutan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Editor’s Desk: Nepal’s disaster has laid bare the world’s adaptation accountability gap
Dhakal said the dialogues held so far have raised awareness, but mountain concerns must become part of the formal UN climate process to unlock climate finance and technical support that can bolster countries’ capacity to tackle climate threats.
If specific indicators and priorities are developed for mountain regions, vulnerable developing countries like Nepal would have better access to finance to help them adapt to the climate warming they have done very little to cause, he added.
More detailed data would enable them to prepare stronger project proposals for international climate funds, including the Green Climate Fund (GCF). In 2025, the GCF backed a project to protect livelihoods from climate-induced flooding in Nepal but it took seven years to get approval.
Sindhu Dhungana, an alternate board member at the GCF, said the problem is becoming more widespread and urgent for the Hindu Kush Himalaya region.
“The economies, cultures and almost everything in Himalayan countries depend on mountains,” he explained. “For us, climate change is mountain change… [it has] affected everything, including the economy and biodiversity.”
Destroyed development projects
Nepal wants the UN climate process to address mountain risks both before and after disasters. Countries need better research, technology, early warning systems and other adaptation measures to protect people and infrastructure. But even when countries take precautions, loss and damage is likely to occur and will require international support to address it.
Nepal has been provisionally allocated $21.6 million from the United Nations’ new Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) to help with the aftermath of the Bhote Koshi disaster, but this is just a fraction of needs and the money will come only months after it made an initial request.
Dhakal pointed to the damage caused by floods to infrastructure built with loans, such as the Melamchi Drinking Water Project, which received $312 million from the Asian Development Bank but was destroyed by a major flood in 2021, shortly after it began operating. The recent Bhote Koshi disaster wiped out a dozen hydropower facilities, as well as solar energy systems.
Nepal flood destruction shows “limits to adaptation”, scientists say
Nepal wants international discussions on what should happen when climate-related disasters destroy development projects built using credit, and how the loans should be treated afterwards.
“Climatic disasters wash out… projects, but the burden of loan is still paid by Nepal,” Dhakal said.
For now, it remains unclear whether the opening session of COP31 will consider or adopt the proposed agenda item on mountains and climate change, with consultations on how to respond still underway among governments and the COP31 co-presidencies.
“If countries agree to discuss the proposal and include it in the agenda, that would be another step forward,” Dhakal said. “Further discussions in the coming years could gradually give the mountain agenda a stronger shape.”
The post Nepal seeks stronger recognition of mountain issues in UN climate process appeared first on Climate Home News.
Nepal seeks stronger recognition of mountain issues in UN climate process
Some governments have backed using Brazil’s voluntary roadmaps on fossil fuels and deforestation to inform the next UN assessment of global climate action, a key process that concludes in 2028, the COP30 presidency told Climate Home News.
Brazil published the roadmaps on transitioning away from fossil fuels and on halting deforestation by 2030 this week, after failing to secure an agreement in Belém to make them part of formal negotiations. The documents set out a menu of policies countries could use to start acting on both issues straight away.
At their launch, Brazilian top climate officials argued the roadmaps could feed into the second stocktake negotiations. Through that process, due to start at this year’s COP, countries are meant to take stock of collective progress on climate action and decide on a plan to ramp up ambition in future policies.
In an interview with Climate Home News in London, COP30 president André Corrêa do Lago said that “some European governments” had signalled their support for the Brazil-led roadmaps to inform the global stocktake negotiations.
“I hope that there will be many other countries that may support this,” he said. “It’s not that you have to take the entire package, because who are we to come up with the solution? But some elements of the roadmaps may be useful.”
