Ten days of negotiations in the German city of Bonn to lay the groundwork for the UN Climate Change Conference in Brazil in November 2025 ended on Thursday, June 26.
German State Secretary for Climate, Jochen Flasbarth, described the Bonn climate conference, a mid-year meeting of stakeholders, as an “important reality check.”
Efforts to limit global warming must now be reflected in concrete new climate plans from around 200 countries, Flasbarth told dpa.
“This is because in 2025, all countries will be required to submit these plans and outline how they will further reduce their climate-damaging emissions in line with the 1.5-degree limit by 2035,” he said.
Some countries have already presented their strategies, while the EU and many others are still working on theirs, said Flasbarth.
However, after two tense weeks of negotiations, breakthrough appears to have emerged in the SB62 climate talks in Bonn: civil society’s Just Transition priorities were officially tabled in the UN climate process, thanks to relentless pressure from social movements, workers, and frontline communities.
According to observers, this vital step opens the door in the fight for transitions that put people first – ensuring climate action centres justice, dignity, and decent work, rather than enabling corporate greenwashing or elite control.
But, beyond this opening, Bonn reportedly laid bare a system in crisis.
Even as NATO leaders just 200km away pledged more than US$1 trillion a year in additional military spending, rich polluting countries showed up at the climate talks pleading poverty. The silence on war, genocide, and rising global inequality was deafening.
Despite the escalating toll of climate impacts and injustice, the talks revealed a growing chasm between the urgent demands of communities on the frontlines of climate breakdown and the hollow, evasive language of a process struggling to retain relevance.
Negotiations on adaptation were little more than a smokescreen. Developed nations dodged their financial obligations towards developing countries once again, and held the process hostage, preventing progress.
The ghost of Baku seemed to haunt the talks, with developing countries facing fierce pushback when they united in their demand for a formal agenda item on the provision of climate finance by developed countries.
“And it’s clear the so-called ‘Baku to Belém’ roadmap remains riddled with holes. Without new, additional and grant-based public finance from historical emitters, there will be no money to fund a real Just Transition, no closing of the ambition gap, and no hope of holding the line at 1.5°C. The COP30 Presidency and all parties must put a plan in place to address the critical issue of the provision of climate finance, or risk a blow up,” environment watchdog group, Climate Action Network International, submitted in a statement.
As countries belatedly prepare their new climate action plans (Nationally Determined Contributions), one thing is clear: they will fall far short of what is needed. Despite this, there was a resounding silence around the ambition gap that is so clearly emerging.
Countries that hold historic responsibility for the climate crisis continue to expand oil and gas exploration while pushing developing countries to shoulder the burden they themselves refuse to bear – both in cutting emissions and providing climate finance. It’s a double standard that deepens injustice and delays real action.
Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of Climate Action Network International, said: “Enough is enough. While bombs get billions and polluters are increasing their record profits, Bonn has once again exposed a system rigged to protect polluters and profiteers – complicit in a global order that funds destruction but balks at paying for survival.
“But even in this broken space, people’s power shone through. Due to the relentless pressure from civil society, the Just Transition fight finally made it into the formal process, laying the table for a win for workers, for communities, and for every person fighting to build a future rooted in dignity and hope. Decision-makers must come to Belém with the commitment to make this a reality.
“As this process drifts further from the real world, it is grassroots movements that continue to lead the way – resisting delay, greenwashing, and false solutions with vision, urgency, and courage. From the streets of Bonn to the heart of Belém, the fight for climate justice is turning into a roar that cannot be ignored.”
Caroline Brouillette, Executive Director, Climate Action Network Canada: “The world is facing a treacherous moment. Political headwinds and unfair economic rules are preventing the level of climate action we need. The UNFCCC feels increasingly disconnected from the real world.
“Amidst the dark clouds of these existential challenges to the planet and to this process, there is a ray of sunshine: parties are finding common ground around a Just Transition. The text forwarded to Belem offers us a fighting chance to a COP30 outcome that truly connects workers, communities and Peoples with the Paris Agreement.”
Amiera Sawas, Head of Research & Policy, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative: “As the Northern hemisphere suffers deadly heatwaves, UN climate talks remain frozen in an out-of-touch process. War and military spending escalated outside, while inside there was no discussion – and no finance. Civil society fought to bring negotiations into the real world, but geopolitics and the fossil fuel lobby kept derailing progress. Even successes, like the draft text for the ‘Just Transition Work Programme’ informed by workers and Indigenous Peoples, were nearly paralysed by fossil fuel interests at the end.
“We are already at risk of breaching the 1.5 temperature limit, there’s no time for paralysis. There’s a real risk that the UN climate talks fail to address the crisis’s biggest drivers: coal, oil, and gas. We cannot afford any more failure; we must urgently do better. And we will – whether inside or outside the UN. Brazil is talking big, but its actions speak louder than words and its recent approval of new oil extraction in the Amazon is the worst possible signal.”
Stela Herschmann, Climate Policy Specialist for Observatório do Clima (Brazil): “This is a party-driven process. What the Bonn meeting showed us is that the parties want to discuss public finance. Despite Brazil’s best intentions to streamline the agenda and make progress on other issues, it may not be possible to do so without including a conversation about public finance in the official COP30 agenda.
“Brazil had three priorities for Bonn. One of them, Just Transition, saw good progress and produced a preparatory text with key asks from civil society organisations so this work programme can actually deliver justice to the people. The other two resemble Baku. The text on indicators for the global goal of adaptation advanced well but is being held until the last minute due to the discussion around finance and means of implementation.
“The UAE dialogue on the implementation of the Global Stocktake, did not progress as much. We will leave Bonn with two similar documents because the parties could not agree on a single informal note, and we can expect to see the same disputes over the scope and modalities in Belém.”
Mariana Paoli, Global Advocacy Lead, Christian Aid: “The Bonn climate talks have shown that there’s hangover from the chaotic ending at COP29 in Baku. Finance remains the elephant in the room. While negotiators circled around the issue in Boon, limited progress was made. We cannot afford another year of delay – COP30 must deliver where COP29 fell short.
“There has been an over reliance on the illusion that private finance will solve the climate crisis. Its growing presence in these spaces is starting to resemble a Trojan horse. Public grants-based finance is essential to deliver climate action, decisions should be done based on the needs of communities and not profits and should be rooted in fairness and science.”
Teresa Anderson, ActionAid International: “Rich countries’ continued refusal to put real climate finance on the table means that climate talks are facing uncertain times. For once, however, it’s not all bad news. Governments are starting to get excited about Just Transition, and shaping energy and food systems in a way that really works for workers, women, farmers and communities.
“This comes at such a critical time, amid so much economic uncertainty, when many people feel they are being forced to choose between their immediate needs and a climate safe future. If approved at COP30, the Just Transition mechanism will deliver action on the ground, requiring and supporting governments to put people’s needs first and foremost at the start of every climate plan. This represents a major evolution in climate action, and the spark of hope that our planet urgently needs.”
Nithi Nesadurai, Director & Regional Coordinator, CAN Southeast Asia: “The Bonn climate meeting took place within the backdrop of a continuing genocide in Gaza, a hot war and the NATO Summit. Interestingly, while developed countries blocked decisions on their financial obligations on all the major climate negotiating items, a short distance away in The Hague, NATO members readily agreed to increase their military budgets to 5 per cent of GDP.
“Easily amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars, it shows finance is available, unlike what they implied in the Bonn negotiations. If not for the progress on the Just Transition Work Programme, which gives civil society a core issue to rally around on the road to Belem, this meeting offered little to get excited about on all other fronts.
Nafkote Dabi, Climate Policy Lead, Oxfam International: “The Bonn conference exposes the stark injustice between rich and poor countries. The richest, primarily responsible for the climate crisis, are dodging their duty to provide public, grant-based finance for developing countries to adapt and rebuild. As warming spirals toward a catastrophic 3°C, urgent action is critical. Rich countries must own their climate debt and stop pushing private finance, that prioritises profit over people, as a solution. The Brazilian COP presidency must also step up and champion equity and justice in Belem.”
Sanjay Vashist, Director, Climate Action Network South Asia: “Climate talks in Bonn have failed South Asia once again. While our communities face climate-induced floods, heatwaves, and hunger, wealthy nations dodge their obligations, offering empty words on adaptation and loss and damage finance. The refusal to put public finance on the table is a betrayal. As we pivot to COP30 in Belém, we demand not just promises, but delivery – real, predictable, and equitable finance. The era of evasion must end. The lives of millions in South Asia depend on it, however the UNFCCC process appears to have succumbed to fossil fuel lobbyists and private sector forces.”
Romain Ioualalen, Global Policy lead at Oil Change International: “Bonn saw the Global North further retreat from its responsibilities to provide public finance for climate action, instead promoting fabricated narratives on private finance filling the gap – despite evidence the market-led approach is not delivering. On top of blocking finance, rich countries failed their homework on fossil fuels with four Global North countries responsible for 70% of projected oil and gas expansion, which made calls from developed parties to center the fossil fuel phaseout in the negotiations continue to ring hollow and hypocritical. An outcome on just transition in Belém is within reach and could provide momentum for centering justice in the transition.”
Ife Kilimanjaro, U.S. Climate Action Network: “Bonn confirmed the UNFCCC feels dangerously out of touch with global crises – war, inequality, and a climate already past 1.5 degrees. The fight for public climate finance was an uphill battle; rich nations diverted responsibility, pushing risky private solutions that won’t close the ambition gap. Yet, a vital glimmer of hope emerged: civil society secured demands in the Just Transition text. This shows organised people can make progress even in disconnected spaces. For USCAN, it’s clear: we must keep bridging the gap between power and lived realities, demanding genuine accountability and justice.”
Fernanda de Carvalho, WWF Global Climate and Energy Policy Lead: “The breakthrough we achieved in Dubai is at stake. Developed countries who should be leading the way, continue to explore for, and use fossil fuels while deforestation is on the rise. We need them to step up at the global level and commit to phasing out all fossil fuels, putting some much-needed momentum into the international climate talks. We also need strong measures to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030. We look to Belém as a political course-correction moment, and we count on the Brazilian Presidency and the political will of all countries to deliver that.”
Avantika Goswami, Programme Manager, Climate Change, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), India: “We do not see appetite to uphold multilateralism from developed countries, and Bonn made that clear. The refusal to dive deeper into Article 9.1 and hear out concerns from developing countries about unilateral trade measures, symbolise the imbalance of power that persists in this space. While civil society is driving momentum on issues like just transition, all other spaces remain paralysed by inequity, and refusal of the Global North to support, fund and enable climate action in the rest of the world in line with its historical duty.”
Ann Harrison, Climate Justice Policy Adviser, Amnesty International: “Human rights references and protections were again sacrificed at the altar of consensus which drives down ambition. UNFCCC reform must be on the table, including greater protections for free speech and peaceful protest which were further restricted, particularly for actions protesting the genocide in Gaza and solidarity actions for imprisoned defenders.
“Fossil fuel producers continue to undermine progress towards the full, fast, fair and funded fossil fuel phase out and just transition we need. And let’s be clear, providing adequate public, grants-based climate finance, especially for adaptation and loss and damage is also a human rights obligation for developed countries, and it must be massively scaled up to contribute towards climate justice.”
Andreas Sieber, 350.org Associate Director of Global Policy and Campaigns: “Bonn was bogged down by political divisions and bruised by global tensions, with results that leave much to be desired. A serious injection of energy and urgency is required as we look ahead to COP30 in Belém. Negotiators must make progress on implementing the Global Stocktake, closing the ambition gap, and delivering the finance needed to turn ambition into action.
“Civil society must hold the line on the agreement to triple renewables and phase out fossil fuels, and rich countries must course correct after Baku’s shortcomings. COP30 has much to make up for, and for it to be a success, the Presidency must lead with the integrity, diplomacy and flexibility this crisis demands.”
Gaïa Febvre, Réseau Action Climat France, International Policy Lead: “As the Bonn climate talks come to a close, it is shocking to see France, once the proud ‘guardian’ of the Paris Agreement, actively blocking a more ambitious EU NDC.
“What’s the point of hosting summits and delivering grand speeches if, behind closed doors, France stalls the very commitments needed to keep 1.5°C alive? The Paris Agreement doesn’t need more ceremony, it needs leadership. It needs a France that pushes the EU to step up, not one that defends the status quo or fossil interests. The window to act is closing. France must choose: will it honor the legacy of Paris, or betray it?”
More than 5,000 delegates took part in the negotiations in Bonn. The city is home to the UN Climate Change Secretariat, which coordinates international climate policy.
The annual talks are seen as a critical step in shaping the global climate agenda ahead of the main event in the Brazilian city of Belém in November, known as COP30.