UN Bonn climate conference starts without agenda

Adds context on Cop presidency

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate talks in Bonn, Germany, have started without a final agenda because of divergent views about an additional item on mitigation brought by the EU, according to a statement by China during the conference's opening plenary.

"The meeting has failed to adopt an agenda because of massive differences on some items," the Chinese representative said. UNFCCC secretary Simon Stiell said the lack of agenda was "not desirable but not uncommon", because it is a process involving many parties. He said work has started, and there will be further consultations with parties on the finalisation of an agenda.

But China said no discussions can take place on items that have not been agreed, as decisions taken during meetings would have no legal weight. It is unclear what the EU additional item involved, with China referring to "dream" projects.

The bloc, at the end of the UN Cop 27 climate summit, pushed for additional curbs on fossil fuels to be included in the cover text, as part of negotiations on the creation of a loss and damage fund, saying mitigation and loss and damage were two sides of the same coin. Since then, EU foreign ministers have updated their external policy position on the energy transition and are now calling for a global phase-out of unabated fossil fuels, but with a transitional role for natural gas.

The Bonn conference is the mid-point to Cop 28, to take place in the UAE in December. The Bonn talks will set the groundwork for the summit and need to focus on work programmes to make as much progress as possible, Stiell said. He said the Cop 28 summit could be the most significant since Paris in 2015, because of the global stock take that will "inform the next round of nationally determined contributions [countries' climate targets]."

Samoa, representing the alliance of small islands, today said they would like to see the UAE set "their vision" for Cop 28 in Bonn.

"We must leave for Dubai with a clear roadmap," said the Samoan representative. "We are seeing a significant ramping up of renewables," Stiell said, but responding to the science on climate change also requires deep cuts in fossil fuel production and consumption. "That, we're not seeing," he said.

UAE president Sultan al-Jaber, chief executive of Abu Dhabi's state-owned oil company Adnoc, who will preside over the conference, has repeatedly said that the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C is "non-negotiable", and that renewable energy capacity must triple. He also said that countries must be focused "on phasing out fossil fuel emissions when phasing up and scaling up viable, affordable zero-carbon alternatives".

But the UAE's pick of al-Jaber to oversee Cop 28 has drawn criticism from climate activists, and more recently from some lawmakers in the US and Europe who said he is not the right choice to lead the climate talks because of his role at Adnoc. Fossil fuels are the largest contributor to global warming.

Stiell today said the Cop president's experience of the oil and gas sector represented an opportunity to ask "very difficult questions". US climate envoy John Kerry and EU lead climate negotiator Frans Timmermans — two senior figures in the Cop negotiations — have endorsed al-Jaber's appointment.

By Caroline Varin and Victoria Hatherick