UN Climate Talks In Bonn Open As Call For More Climate Action Grows
Today marks the start of the Bonn Climate Conference, where countries gather under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to continue negotiations towards the Paris agreement due to be signed this December. In the opening Climate Action Network press briefing, members of the world’s largest network of NGOs working to stop climate change laid out expected developments and priority issues for civil society.
The talks unfold against a backdrop of record global temperatures and extreme weather events. Every month of 2015 so far has broken temperature records, and people around the world are struggling to cope with weather disasters, like the current heat waves in India and Mali.
As these impacts hit home, momentum for scaling up climate action is building – businesses backed increased action at the Business and Climate Summit in Paris last month, investment in renewable energy is growing even as the coal industry’s downward spiral accelerates. More and more moral voices are calling out the need for action including the Pope who is expected to release an encyclical that will cover climate change later this month. Countries responsible for 58% of the world’s emissions have lodged their climate action offers toward the Paris agreement so far. These offers outline how these countries will transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Countries negotiating at the Bonn Conference can show they mean to harness this momentum and take meaningful steps towards codifying a strong Paris agreement.
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