UN climate chief Simon Stiell urged governments to accelerate climate action at the Bonn talks, warning against revisiting past commitments as negotiations advance toward COP31 in Türkiye.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell on Monday (June 8) called for accelerated global action to tackle climate change as delegates gathered in Bonn for two weeks of UN climate talks that will help shape negotiations ahead of COP31 in Türkiye later this year.
Opening the 64th sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Stiell said governments could not afford to revisit previously agreed commitments as climate impacts intensify worldwide.
“Tackling the global climate crisis is the hardest, but most important, thing humanity has ever tried to do together,” said Stiell, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change. “It is worth doing, because we have no choice. Every economy and population depends on it.”
“We don’t have time to re-open past debates or renegotiate commitments already made,” he added.
The annual June Climate Meetings, held at the World Conference Center Bonn where the UNFCCC is headquartered, began on Monday and will continue until June 18. More than 7,000 participants are expected to attend, including negotiators from countries party to the Paris Agreement as well as representatives from civil society, businesses and sectoral organisations.
Stiell said the world was facing mounting pressure to accelerate climate action, citing deadly heatwaves, climate-fuelled El Niño impacts and ongoing geopolitical instability.
“We’re witnessing the imperative to accelerate now, as deadly heat kills thousands in a single day,” he said.
He warned that El Niño impacts, intensified by climate change, could trigger further suffering and inflationary shocks, while conflict in the Middle East was causing widespread human suffering and contributing to a fossil fuel cost crisis affecting economies around the world.
“It’s crystal clear: continuing our fossil fuel dependency means continuing to import inflation and economic instability, while exporting energy security, sovereignty and policy autonomy,” he said.
Stiell said climate-vulnerable economies and communities remained exposed to increasingly destructive climate disasters that threaten lives and prosperity.
The Bonn meetings are expected to advance negotiations on several major issues before COP31, which will be held in Antalya, Türkiye, in November.
Among the priorities identified by Stiell are progress on the Global Goal on Adaptation and the Belem Adaptation Indicators, implementation of the first Global Stocktake outcomes, development of a just transition mechanism to support countries and workers and discussions on climate finance, including the climate finance work programme and the Adaptation Fund.
He also called for progress in implementing finance agreements reached outside the formal negotiating process and for reviews of work programmes with implementation as a central objective.
The UN climate chief said institutions involved in the climate process must continue to evolve and improve, noting calls from countries and stakeholders for greater efficiency and reduced reporting burdens.
He said parties could direct a review of mandates to improve coordination and efficiency, while the UNFCCC secretariat was exploring ways to support easier access to climate finance through better coordination among providers and simpler application procedures.
The issue of reducing reporting burdens across climate and environmental frameworks is also being examined under the UN80 initiative, he said.
“The Secretariat will always be there to advise and support you. But ultimately, it’s your process and your decisions to make,” Stiell told delegates.
Looking ahead, he said the climate process must be connected more closely to the real economy and highlighted growing support for strengthening the Global Climate Action Agenda alongside formal negotiations.
The agenda brings together governments, companies, innovators, investors, cities, regions and civil society groups to support implementation of climate goals.
Stiell noted that COP30 had launched six thematic areas to align climate action efforts with implementation of Global Stocktake outcomes and praised Türkiye, working with Australia, for advancing that agenda.
He urged participants to use the Action Agenda to address challenges including energy security, food security, waste reduction, urban resilience and methane emissions.
The Bonn talks mark the first major UN climate gathering since last year’s negotiations and are widely viewed as a key stepping stone toward COP31 and future climate discussions, including COP33 and the next phase of the Global Stocktake process.
“We are not where we need to be. But we are somewhere we have never been before,” Stiell said. “The hard work continues. Make these two weeks count.”
