At the opening of technical talks in Bonn ahead of the upcoming COP31 climate summit in Turkey, the official who will chair the global talks, Murat Kurum, presented a bleak picture of volatile energy markets and mounting debt pressure.
Officially called SB64 – for the 64th session of the UNFCCC’s subsidiary bodies – the meeting which opened on Monday is seen as the last chance to make serious progress in maintaining the global ambition to implement the Paris Agreement ahead of UN talks in Antalya in November.
“These realities send a clear message,” he said President COP31 Murat Kurum told attendees in the western German city. “They remind us how dangerous it is to remain dependent on imported fossil fuels and how urgent it is to accelerate the clean energy transition.”
“If we want Antalya to focus on higher-level political decisions, we should use this time in Bonn to advance the main tracks of the negotiations and reduce the burden that would otherwise fall on COP31,” Kurum said.
“Key processes” such as previously agreed greenhouse gas reduction targets, known as the mitigation work program, and financial aid to the poorest countries, known as the just transition work program, should be “reviewed”, he added.
The last Bonn conference was marked by contention on the agenda items that stalled the talks for two days.
Australian Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen, who has stepped down as COP31 negotiating chair, spoke of the “worst energy crisis in our history” and noted the continued rise in temperatures and the intensification of natural disasters.
However, he was not pessimistic, he said.
“Because the best news is, the responses to these challenges are not in conflict, but in complete harmony,” Bowen said. “More clean energy. More electrification. Less dependence on fossil fuels. More energy sovereignty and reliability. Lower emissions.”
The SB64 conference will run through June 18.
