UN Climate Talks SB64 Begin in Bonn to Advance COP30 Agenda and Prepare for COP31

The 64th session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies (SB64) is underway at the World Conference Centre in Bonn, Germany, bringing together more than 5,000 government delegates and observers. The two-week meeting is aimed at advancing key decisions taken at UNFCCC COP30 in Belém and laying the groundwork for COP31, scheduled to take place in Antalya, Türkiye in November this year.

Negotiations in Bonn will span a broad range of climate issues, including mitigation, adaptation, climate science, technology, climate finance, trade, just transition, and preparations for the second global stocktake. Parties will also engage in mandated workshops and dialogues exploring the links between climate change and key sectors and ecosystems, including mountains, oceans, agriculture, food security, gender, and Indigenous peoples and local communities.

A series of high-level consultations and roundtables will also be held under the leadership of the current and incoming COP presidencies, along with High-Level Champions, focused on increasing climate ambition ahead of COP31. These discussions will include updates on the COP30 Presidency Roadmaps on Forests and Fossil Fuels, launched in Belém last year.

Alongside the negotiations, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is expected to play an active role in several sessions, highlighting efforts to strengthen alignment between climate action and nature protection. The organisation is also expected to push for greater policy coherence and collaboration across the three Rio Conventions, building on outcomes from the IUCN World Conservation Congress.

Key sessions involving IUCN during SB64 include discussions on forest protection under the COP30 Roadmap, the Global Goal on Adaptation workshop under the Baku Adaptation Roadmap, the COP31 Action Agenda, ocean-climate linkages, implementation of the Baku to Belém finance roadmap, and the dialogue on mountains and climate change. Additional engagements will focus on fossil fuel transition pathways, enhanced cooperation across UN frameworks, and annual global stocktake discussions.

IUCN will also host and co-host several side events, including a session on forests and climate finance in partnership with CIFOR-ICRAF, the Government of the Philippines, and the Igarapé Institute, as well as the 12th Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) Knowledge Day in collaboration with UNEP. Further meetings and workshops are scheduled across Bonn throughout the conference period, focusing on scaling up nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based adaptation efforts.