Highlights and images for 4 June 2024

Climate change impacts are already materializing, but children and future generations will suffer the brunt of the consequences–even more so if parties’ collective efforts to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement do not pick up speed with the next round of nationally determined contributions.

Want to dig deep into today's talks? Read the full Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily report.

With this in mind, parties convened an expert dialogue in which participants reflected on the various ways in which climate change jeopardizes children’s rights to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Discussions touched upon physical and mental health; access to essential services such as food, water, and sanitation; and the disruption of education.

They reflected on creating an accessible space for children to engage with policymakers. Colombian youth climate activist Francisco Vera Manzanares called for a children’s COP focused on their wellbeing.

In other parts of the venue, negotiations launched on issues such as the refinement of the Paris Agreement’s Global Stocktake (GST) process, the review of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage, and cooperative implementation of the Paris Agreement (Article 6).

Despite a seemingly boring-sounding name, discussions on “arrangements for intergovernmental meetings” proved to be the most fiery talks of the day. This was no surprise for those who know this is where the future of the process is discussed. Today, disagreements emerged on two key areas: the list of issues to be discussed at the November 2024 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, and nominations for future host countries.

The first disagreement related to a number of finance items, with some countries wanting to add and others to remove items from the agenda. Agenda fights are a regular part of the climate process: the back-and-forth might seem mundane, but the placing of topics under specific headings tends to frame discussions–and thus, their outcomes. This is why some wanted to see the dialogue on implementing GST outcomes to be considered under matters related to the GST, rather than matters related to finance: whereas the former has a broader mandate, the latter would focus discussions on funding.

There remains much uncertainty with regard to future hosts of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, for the years to come. The discussions among the Western European and Others Group (WEOG) over whether to nominate Australia or Türkiye as host of COP 31 are the most pressing.