Bonn Talks End With Adaptation and Mitigation Deferred to COP31 and a Just Transition Package Agreed
The mid-year UN climate negotiations in Bonn, the 64th sessions of the UNFCCC subsidiary bodies, ran from 8 to 18 June 2026 and closed with few concrete outcomes. Negotiators failed to agree texts on the Global Goal on Adaptation and on the mitigation work programme, the only formal agenda item devoted specifically to cutting emissions. Both were sent to COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, in November under rule 16 of the UNFCCC's procedures, which carries items forward when no conclusion is reached.
Parties did agree a package of texts on the just transition work programme, including steps towards a new mechanism to support workers and communities through the energy transition. In his closing statement, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell warned against "you-first-ism", in which groups refuse to move unless others act first. Developing countries pressed for the new climate finance work programme agreed in Belém to focus on Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, which says developed countries "shall provide" finance.
The mitigation work programme failed to reach even a short set of draft conclusions. For energy-producing regions, including coal regions in South Africa, Indonesia and Eastern Europe, the mechanism is intended to coordinate support for workers and communities as fossil fuel industries contract. In the global stocktake dialogue, the EU, Switzerland and Colombia emphasised the energy package of the 2023 stocktake, which includes transitioning away from fossil fuels and phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.
The Turkish COP31 presidency launched its action agenda priorities during the session. For energy markets, an electrification goal of that scale would imply large growth in power demand and investment in generation and grids. The first of three dialogues on climate and trade, created at COP30, took place in the first week. Parties disagreed over references to the 1.5°C goal, misinformation and the role of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Key milestones before COP31 include ministerial meetings, the UN General Assembly in September and the pre-COP.