27 June 2019: The Bonn Climate Change Conference was expected to advance work on several issues to facilitate implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Paris Agreement, due for completion at the Santiago Climate Change Conference in Chile in December 2019. Delegates made progress on a number of issues, although several Parties were “deeply disappointed” with the outcomes related to scientific issues.

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin reports that over 3,300 delegates gathered in Bonn from 17-27 June 2019, including over 1,900 government delegates and over 1,300 representatives of observer organizations, with close to 1,100 representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and nearly 60 members of the media. The meeting comprised the 50th meetings of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA).

Progress was reported on issues related to Paris Agreement Article 6 (market and non-market cooperative approaches). On this outstanding issue from the Katowice Climate Package, which is part of the “rulebook” of the Paris Agreement, Parties brought forward the work undertaken in Katowice, and worked to ensure that all views were reflected in the draft texts produced by the Co-Facilitators. Parties agreed to work in Santiago on the basis the Co-Facilitators’ texts. As the need for a decision looms in Santiago, countries will arrive with an agreed basis for negotiations.

On the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the review of the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts (WIM), the ToR were adopted, setting out the scope, inputs, and other aspects of the review of the WIM to take place at the Santiago Climate Change Conference in December 2019. This mechanism is important to developing countries.

Many delegates and civil society demonstrated and repeated the mantra “Science is not negotiable.”

On reporting tables and other issues related to the transparency framework under the Paris Agreement, Parties agreed to intersessional work, and to forward informal notes developed by the Co-Facilitators to advance discussions at the Santiago Climate Change Conference.

On the Nairobi Work Programme on impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change (NWP), it was agreed that the Programme will prioritize thematic areas in its work on adaptation and vulnerability to climate change, namely: extreme weather events; drought; forests and grasslands; oceans; and agriculture and food security.

On the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture, countries welcomed and set the themes for an upcoming intersessional workshop, to be hosted by New Zealand, on sustainable land and water management, and strategies and modalities to scale up practices and technologies to increase resilience and sustainable production.

Parties were unable to advance several issues, including the Adaptation Fund’s Board membership, with Parties diverging on the need to reform the Board once it transitions from serving the Kyoto Protocol to exclusively serving the Paris Agreement. A procedural outcome on common time frames of future Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) was reached, to continue consideration of the issue without intersessional work or agreeing to a deadline to reach agreement.

On science, many delegates and civil society demonstrated and repeated the mantra “Science is not negotiable” to express their frustration with the outcome on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (SR15). In this outcome, Parties agreed to thank the IPCC for its work on the report, but did not engage in substantive discussions of its findings as many had hoped. The decision reflected a razor-thin compromise between the many Parties who wanted to celebrate the scientific achievements of the report and the few who expressed concerns with the report.

The next meeting of the UN Climate Change Conference is in December in Santiago, Chile. [Earth Negotiations Bulletin Coverage of the Bonn Climate Change Conference]