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.
Brazil calls on local groups to “inspire” governments in boosting climate action
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.
The post Brazil seeks early deals on two stalled issues at Bonn climate talks appeared first on Climate Home News.
Brazil seeks early deals on two stalled issues at Bonn climate talks
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Climate Change
DeBriefed 19 June 2026: Bonn talks end in ‘gridlock’ | Energy’s ‘new era’ | Oceans in climate negotiations
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.
This week
Bonn talks close
‘SIDE-STEPPING AND STALLING’: UN climate talks in Bonn have ended in “gridlock”, according to Climate Home News. The outlet reported on the failure to balance developing countries’ need for climate-adaptation finance with “richer nations’ desire to move forward” on emissions cuts. It added that both topics were subject to “rule 16”, meaning no agreement could be reached and work will be pushed to the COP31 summit in Turkey. Inside Climate News quoted UN climate executive secretary Simon Stiell, who said the talks had seen “side-stepping and stalling”.
JUST TRANSITION: One “glimmer of hope” came from negotiations on achieving a “just transition”, reported Euronews. The news outlet said negotiators “made headway on operationalising the Belém-Antalya mechanism”, intended to support people in the shift to a low-carbon economy. However, Politico concluded that much of the focus in Bonn had “shift[ed] to efforts outside diplomatic talks – raising questions about the future of global climate negotiations”.
‘ATTACKING SCIENCE’: Agence France-Presse reported on the EU, Switzerland and “dozens of developing nations” warning of “attacks on science” by a “small group of fossil-fuels interests” in Bonn. Table Briefings explained that “the 1.5C target is increasingly being challenged” and the role of the UN climate-science panel – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – in an upcoming assessment of global climate progress “remains controversial”. See Carbon Brief’s full write-up of the talks for more detail.
US-Iran deal
PRICE DROP: The US and Iran announced that they have reached an interim agreement to halt the war and reopen the strait of Hormuz, reported Bloomberg. Oil prices have fallen, as the “long-awaited deal” began the process of “eas[ing]” the global energy crisis triggered by the conflict, according to the New York Times. The Associated Press noted that high fuel prices will “likely outlast the Iran war”.
‘OIL GLUT’: The Financial Times reported that the International Energy Agency (IEA) has forecast a “glut of oil” emerging next year, if the peace deal holds. The IEA said this would allow countries to build new strategic reserves, as they “review their energy strategies and policies in response to the crisis”, according to Reuters.
‘NEW ERA’: Agence France-Presse reported that oil and gas companies have “few illusions about a return to normal for the Gulf energy industry after more than three months of blockage”. One analyst told the newswire that the war “showed the oil and gas industry that Hormuz risk is no longer just a geopolitical headline”.
Around the world
- OCEAN MONITOR: The Trump administration is “abandoning its plan” to dismantle a $368m ocean monitoring system key for tracking climate change after a “bipartisan backlash on Capitol Hill”, reported the New York Times.
- CORAL HAVEN: The New York Times covered preliminary research, presented at the Our Ocean Conference in Kenya, suggesting there could be three times as many “coral refugia” – where corals are relatively safe from climate change – than previously thought.
- BAD CREDIT: Down to Earth reported that the first carbon credits issued under the Paris Agreement’s new Article 6.4 mechanism are “facing scrutiny over alleged links to institutions controlled by Myanmar’s military junta”.
- OIL BACKTRACK: Reuters reported that oil-and-gas company Equinor has dropped a renewable-energy target and scaled back clean investments, while another Reuters story noted that Shell is selling off its offshore wind assets.
1.1 billion
The number of children facing “at least three overlapping climate hazards”, according to a new Unicef report covered by Agence France-Presse.
Latest climate research
- Including the “permafrost carbon-climate feedback” in climate models increases the chance of exceeding “tipping elements” – such as the Greenland ice sheets, Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation or Amazon rainforest – by up to 50% | Environmental Research Letters
- The intensity of influenza outbreaks could decline in temperate regions, but increase in tropical areas over the next century, as the climate warms | PNAS Nexus
- European snow cover has declined by 20% for December and January since the start of the industrial era, revealing an “unprecedented ongoing shrinkage of European winters” | Communications Earth & Environment
(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)
Captured
The more than 2m battery electric vehicles (BEVs), 1m “plug-in” hybrids (PHEVs) and 100,000 electric vans on UK roads are already saving drivers a total of around £3bn a year, according to new Carbon Brief analysis. This amounts to savings of more than £1,100 a year in fuel costs for each BEV driver in the UK. The analysis comes amid reports in UK media this week that the government is considering “watering down” its EV sales targets.
Spotlight
Oceans rising at UN climate talks
The state of the world’s oceans is inextricably linked to the changing climate – and many delegates at UN climate talks want to see more focus on this issue, reports Carbon Brief.
Oceans are often described as the world’s “greatest ally” against climate change – absorbing 30% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and most of the heat generated by those emissions.
They are also the site of important climate solutions, such as huge offshore windfarms and the shipping industry’s transition to cleaner fuels.
At the same time, the oceans themselves present a growing danger to coastal communities and sea life due to sea level rise, marine heatwaves and ocean acidification.
These diverse issues have led to growing calls within the UN climate process for more focus on oceans. During climate negotiations this week in Bonn – known as SB64 – nations and civil society had a chance to air these views during an “ocean and climate change dialogue”.
‘Elevate action’
Oceans first entered UN climate outcomes in 2019, when the final COP25 negotiated text requested a new “dialogue” on “the ocean and climate change to consider how to strengthen mitigation and adaptation action”.
The following years saw this dialogue established as an annual event. However, the political weight of these discussions has been limited.
COP31 is being co-led by Turkey and Australia, but with Pacific islands playing a supporting role. These small islands sometimes self-identify as “large ocean states”, stressing the ocean’s centrality in their societies.
In Bonn, figures from across the presidency threw their weight behind this issue. Chris Bowen, an Australian minister and incoming COP31 “president of negotiations”, told attendees:
“Australia, Turkey and the Pacific see an important opportunity to elevate ocean-based climate action.”
Strategies and finance
The two-day dialogue in Bonn involved a series of panels, statements and breakout groups.
One of the main topics was how oceans are integrated into national climate plans under the Paris Agreement, known as “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs).
Three-quarters of the latest round of NDCs mention oceans, with conservation of “blue carbon” ecosystems the most frequently described action. (Landscapes such as mangroves can both absorb CO2 and protect coastal areas.)
Delegates also discussed alignment with the UN biodiversity process, as well as ocean finance, which currently makes up less than 1% of all climate finance.
(As discussions were taking place in Bonn, country officials also gathered in Mombasa, Kenya for the 11th Our Ocean Conference. Carbon Brief’s associate editor Giuliana Viglione attended the conference and will publish a full summary shortly.)
Developing countries were clear that many of the ocean-related actions in their NDCs would depend on receiving more financial support.
‘Political momentum’
With the backing of the COP31 presidency, delegates were hopeful about where this year’s dialogue could lead.
Charles Hamilton, an advisor for the Bahamas who spoke for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) in the dialogue, told Carbon Brief that island representatives “are not traveling thousands of miles to just talk and pat ourselves on the back”. He added:
“A dialogue that just remains a dialogue is just more talk – no action.”
Given that, he said “discussions in the dialogue must move into COP decisions and the decisions must be actioned”, noting the importance of finance.
Marina Corrêa, oceans lead at WWF-Brazil, pointed to an upcoming UN climate change Standing Committee on Finance forum as a space to ramp up pressure on ocean finance.
More broadly, she wanted to see the presidencies translate their support into a “leader-level ocean initiative” that could “mainstream” oceans across negotiations.
“We have a really interesting opportunity, in terms of political momentum,” Corrêa told Carbon Brief.
Watch, read, listen
‘HOTTER THAN HELL’: An episode of the BBC’s Rare Earth podcast titled “hotter than hell” considered the issue of extreme heat, with input from experts and “people facing up to the hottest temperatures on the planet”.
NOT BROKEN?: John Drake, a professor of ecology at the University of Georgia, wrote an essay for Aeon – also re-published as a Guardian “long read” – questioning the framing of ecosystems and climate systems “breaking down”.
ON COURSE: On his Volts podcast, US climate journalist David Roberts interviewed UK climate minister Katie White, quizzing her about whether the UK will “stay the course with its climate plans”.
Coming up
- 20-28 June: London climate action week
- 21 June: Colombia presidential runoff
- 24 June: UK Climate Change Committee progress in reducing emissions 2026 report to parliament
Pick of the jobs
- Mongabay, managing editor – Africa | Salary: Unknown. Location: Global
- Contexte, environment reporter – Brussels | Salary: €45,000-€60,000. Location: Brussels
- Climate 200, communications director | Salary: Unknown. Location: Australia
- Energy Tracker Asia, energy transition correspondent | Salary: $3,000-$4,000 per month. Location: South-east Asia (remote)
DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s weekly DeBriefed email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.
The post DeBriefed 19 June 2026: Bonn talks end in ‘gridlock’ | Energy’s ‘new era’ | Oceans in climate negotiations appeared first on Carbon Brief.
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