Bonn Climate Summit delayed hours over agenda dispute

In Bonn, Germany

Delegates attending the June climate talks in Bonn, Germany have protested delays in the official opening of crucial discussions, amid tense wrangling over the meeting’s agenda that have revealed deepening geopolitical rifts and unresolved procedural tensions within the UN climate process.

The Nation has learnt that negotiators from various blocs, including those representing the Global South, raised objections to the proposed schedule of negotiations, arguing that it failed to reflect urgent priorities such as unilateral trade measures, climate finance delivery, equity in the Global Goal on Adaptation, and the Loss and Damage Fund.

A source, whose identity we are not revealing because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the Bolivian delegation led the blockade, demanding the inclusion of its interests in the agenda.

By 2pm Bonn time, the plenary opening session had been delayed by more than three hours, leaving observers frustrated and uncertain about how long the impasse would last.

At the heart of the dispute is a broader struggle over whose priorities take centre stage. The Like-Minded Group of Developing Countries (LMDCs), a lobby of nations that represents more than 50 percent of the global population, wants climate finance and adaptation to receive more political and technical weight.

Some countries are also pushing for more substantive discussions on the just transition and the implications of carbon markets, especially following the rules adopted in Baku, Azerbaijan during COP29 last year.

However, several developed nations appeared unwilling to reopen what they saw as settled issues, and this morning’s pushed back against revisiting contested points, leading to a procedural deadlock with little sign of compromise in the opening hours.

The talks are also clouded by a heavy, uneasy silence, not from the usual bureaucratic inertia that dogs such meetings, but from a far more visceral wound: war.

The Israel-Gaza conflict has cast a grim pall over the proceedings, referred to under the United Nations framework at SB62, as climate activists, many from the Global South, staging powerful protests at the conference.

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Banners demanding an end to atrocities in Gaza flanked the entrance to the conference centre, with demonstrators decrying the global community’s deafening silence since their similar appeals at COP29 in Baku. Among the voices was a Palestinian climate and human rights group, pleading for recognition of the interwoven nature of environmental and human destruction.

Ms Tasneem Essop, Executive Director at CAN International, said: ‘‘We cannot come to Bonn for another climate conference and ignore the reality outside of these negotiations. Israel continues to carry out a genocide in Gaza, forced starvation of women and children and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Every red line has been crossed, international law has been crushed and justice ripped. Humanity cannot ignore the reality of these unbelievable injustices. We must stand up to Israel. The climate multilateral process doesn’t happen in a bubble.’’ 

This emotional undercurrent has set the tone for what was already going to be a fraught fortnight of negotiations. For Africa, in particular, the stakes at SB62 are exceptionally high and increasingly urgent.

This is the first major convening of the UNFCCC calendar under the stewardship of Dr Richard Muyungi of Tanzania, the new Chair of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN). Dr Muyungi took over the reigns of the AGN earlier this year from Kenya’s Ali Mohamed, the seasoned diplomat who led the African group at the Baku meetings in November last year, and who is President William Ruto’s Special Envoy for Climate Change.

Dr Muyungi inherits not only the weight of Africa’s climate agenda but also a changing geopolitical terrain, where global attention is often elsewhere and promises to the Global South remain unfulfilled. Whether he will play it safe or push harder for Africa’s core demands remains to be seen, but on Day 1, he was categorical that “it’s time for delivery”.

“Africa comes to Bonn with a clear and united voice,” he told the Nation from inside the plenary hall, as murmurs over the delay of the opening ceremony rose. “We want ambition matched by action. We expect real progress on adaptation, especially on clear, measurable indicators under the Global Goal on Adaptation linked to the means of implementation. We need finance that is predictable, accessible, and aligned with our priorities. And we demand a just transition that reflects our realities, particularly on energy access and clean cooking, not one imposed from elsewhere. The climate crisis is a daily reality for millions of Africans, and our people cannot wait for endless negotiations. It is time for delivery.”

Chief among Africa’s priorities in Bonn is movement on the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), a framework that has been dogged by vagueness and delayed action. This year, the conversation is expected to zero in on indicators that will determine how adaptation is measured, financed, and delivered. Africa, facing the frontline impacts of climate change, has insisted that tracking adaptation must not be reduced to academic metrics or vague policy goals, but must reflect the lived experiences of millions struggling to survive rising temperatures, failing rains, and swelling displacement.

Mr Mohamed, the Kenyan Special Envoy, said: “We come with clear expectations rooted in urgency and equity. The climate crisis is not a distant threat for us, but a lived reality. Droughts, floods, and shifting weather patterns are already eroding livelihoods, undermining food systems, and threatening development gains. We therefore expect the talks to move beyond rhetoric and deliver tangible progress on long-standing commitments: scaled-up climate finance, accessible technology transfer, and meaningful capacity-building support. These are foundational pillars of the Paris Agreement and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. For the Global South, including Kenya, this is not just about adaptation and resilience, but fairness, trust, and the shared belief that no region should be left behind in the race to a just, green future.”

He added: “Ten years after the adoption of the Paris Agreement, and with the final Article 6 rules on carbon markets concluded in Baku last year, there is no justification for stalling. The time for unnecessary debate is over. It is now time for delivery… of ambition, of equity, and of trust..”

Another flashpoint for Africa and its allies in the Global South is clarity on ‘just transition’. For years, developing nations have warned that the concept, born in the North, is being selectively interpreted to serve donor narratives and industrial transitions, with little concern for the realities of the South.

At SB62, Global South negotiators and activists are pressing for a broader framing, one that accounts for historical inequalities, capacity gaps, and the right to develop. African economies, many still reliant on fossil fuels for fiscal stability, are demanding tailored pathways that do not shut the door to their industrialisation dreams.

Ms Amiera Sawas, Head of Research and Policy at the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, said: ‘‘In the era of growing government rollback on commitments to finance renewable energy, the power of the people is critical. A just transition can bring together under a common goal. But there is no fair transition without real finance, inclusion and a reset of the economic structures that continue to hold back justice. Bonn must ensure that talks on just transition are more than just a talk shop.’’ 

Unsurprisingly, climate finance remains a sore spot. Despite repeated pledges, Africa is still waiting for the $100 billion per year commitment made over a decade ago. Even more urgent is the need for new finance architecture, including a roadmap for the much-discussed Loss and Damage fund, which is still hamstrung by delivery bottlenecks and donor fatigue.

Ms Maheen Khan, of World Wildlife Fund in the Netherlands, said “the world is not facing merely climate risks but realities in heatwaves, droughts and cyclones”, adding that “while cyclones make the news, heatwaves are increasing too, driving deaths and illnesses, straining energy access and destroying livelihoods”. 

She added” “SB62 must approach adaptation not just as a negotiation item, but as the means to survive climate change and develop. Bonn must deliver GGA indicators that are robust and fit-for-purpose. We cannot address just transitions, energy access, adaptation and finance in silos. They are all connected.’’ 

Beyond the negotiating rooms, a restless and energised civil society contingent from Africa and the wider Global South is turning up the heat. Their demands are increasingly sophisticated, framed in both climate science and human rights law. But at the core, they are asking one thing: accountability.

They argue that the fight against climate change must reckon with the political and moral failures that continue to divide the world into those who survive and those who suffer. And with COP30 in Belem, Brazil looming in November, the SB62 meetings in Bonn are poised to become a litmus test for the credibility of the UNFCCC process, and, by extension, Africa’s place within it.

So far, the signs are mixed. A war rages in the Middle East with climate talks barely acknowledging it; old financial pledges remain unmet; key frameworks like the GGA risk being diluted; and African voices, while louder than ever, are still fighting for equal footing in rooms dominated by wealthier nations.