The UN climate change conference in the western German city of Bonn wraps up on Thursday, with environmental groups drawing mixed conclusions on progress made ahead of COP31 in Turkey later this year.
The June Climate Meetings host important negotiating sessions and preparatory meetings for the annual COP summits, the most important format for combating environmental challenges.
In anticipation of the November summit in Antalya, the Turkish government proposed in Bonn to increase the global share of electricity in final energy consumption from 20% to 35% by 2035.
Laura Schäfer from pressure group Germanwatch praised the initiative as a “positive sign,” adding that it was “crucial to underpin this target with concrete national measures – including in Germany.”
Oxfam climate expert Jan Kowalzig emphasized that "electrification is, in principle, an important step towards climate neutrality, but only if it is accompanied by a consistent transition to renewable energy."
On the other hand, the organizations believe the pace of the conference has been far too slow.
"We have witnessed structural paralysis here in Bonn," warned Greenpeace climate expert Jannes Stoppel. "Disputes over a lack of climate finance, conflicting geopolitical interests and a lack of implementation mechanisms are forcing the negotiations to take baby steps, when what is actually needed are great strides."
Since the beginning of last week, 6,500 delegates from governments, the scientific community, the business sector and civil society representing almost all UN member states have been attending the Bonn conference.
Representatives from several countries, including Switzerland, Sierra Leone and the Pacific islands particularly affected by rising sea levels, criticized at a press conference that objectively established facts about climate change were increasingly being disputed during the negotiations.
They argued that the conferences were intended to find solutions to climate change, not to debate the current state of scientific knowledge.
Fentje Jacobsen of WWF Germany said clear financial commitments and concrete implementation plans must be put on the table in the run-up to COP31 to enable further progress.
The climate crisis can only be halted if coal, oil and gas take a back seat and renewable energies shape the future, Jacobsen said.
"But here, too, concrete progress is lacking," she added, complaining that the German government is "putting on the brakes" instead of "pushing ahead with the energy transition at full speed."
