Highlights and images for 15 June 2023

The 2023 Bonn Climate Change Conference ended with a sprint, as delegates tried to sort out outstanding divergences on a number of agenda items in time for the closing plenaries of the Subsidiary Bodies. In some cases, such as the work programme on just transition pathways, they succeeded. Granted, the hold up in this context was not a substantive one, as delegates mainly debated wording around the timing of a workshop.

Over the course of the day, informal consultations were suspended for long stretches of time to allow for country groups to coordinate among themselves and with each other. As a result, huddles sprouted around the venue. In some cases, the Chairs of the Subsidiary Bodies were called in to help move the process along.

The outcomes of the conference did not live up to everyone’s expectations. In their closing statements, many speakers lamented the weak outcome of the consideration of the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. They underscored it is the most comprehensive and robust assessment of climate change to date and calls for urgent action in this decade.

Looking ahead, many emphasized the need to, among others:

• identify a host for the Santiago Network on loss and damage;
• develop the framework for the Global Goal on Adaptation;
• enhance mitigation ambition and implementation; and
• deliver a course correction through the first Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement.

The meetings were gavelled to a close at 11:40 pm.