The United Nations climate talks in Bonn, Germany, have ended in disappointment and bickering, with negotiators only agreeing to an agenda on the penultimate day and leaving key issues affecting the development sector unresolved.
Climate finance — or the lack of it — was a key stumbling block, stunting talks on adaptation and loss and damage amid widening concerns about the overall trajectory of the only international political climate process. Financing has long been promised to lower-income countries but high-income nations have so far fallen short, undermining trust in the negotiations.
The annual conference in Bonn marks the halfway point to the 28th United Nations Conference of Parties, or COP 28, and attendees had hoped the event would steer the COP talks — with their grinding, highly complex work program — on a positive trajectory to the political decision making at the year’s main climate talks in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in November.
About the author
William Worley@willrworley
Will Worley is the Climate Correspondent for Devex, covering the intersection of development and climate change. He previously worked as UK Correspondent, reporting on the FCDO and British aid policy during a time of seismic reforms. Will’s extensive reporting on the UK aid cuts saw him shortlisted for ‘Specialist Journalist of the Year’ in 2021 by the British Journalism Awards. He can be reached at william.worley@devex.com.
