India Urges Action on Declining Climate Finance at Bonn Climate Talks

India urged action on declining climate finance in a statement on June 8 at the ongoing climate conference in Bonn, Germany, and said the international climate agenda must now focus on implementation.

“Editing:Megan Rowling The number of journalists registered to attend the annual climate negotiations in Bonn has declined this year, as climate reporters have been let go and media coverage of climate issues falls around the world”

Climate Home News

The Bonn Climate Change Conference kicked off on June 8 and will continue till the 18th, and it is the 64th session of the UNFCCC’s Subsidiary Bodies (SB64) ahead of COP31 in Antalya in Türkiye this November.

Climate Home News

India also pressed that “no new issues” should be considered in the next COP’s negotiations, and it said “no new issues or obligations beyond agreed mandates should be considered. Initiatives outside the UNFCCC process should remain voluntary in nature,” as quoted by Down To Earth.

The statement was delivered by Harkeerat Singh Randhawa, described as a Union Ministry of External Affairs official posted as second secretary at the Consulate General of India in Berlin, during the opening plenary of SB64 in Bonn.

India told the Bonn SB64 climate talks that it was concerned by declining levels of climate finance from developed countries and the widening adaptation finance gap, and it called for the Article 9.1 work programme to receive the “prominence and dedicated agenda space it deserves”.

The statement tied that focus to equity and historical responsibility, saying developing countries need carbon space to eradicate poverty, expand energy access, and meet their sustainable development goal.

Down To Earth

Second Secretary Harkeerat Singh Randhawa said during his opening plenary statement that “India believes that the international climate agenda must now focus on implementation. Equity and historical responsibility must continue to guide this phase,” according to ThePrint.

TheWire.in reported India’s stance that it will not give up on fossil fuels yet, saying it still needs to lift its people out of poverty and that actions must be taken by member parties based on ‘common but differentiated’ responsibilities.

India also raised concerns over unilateral trade measures, pointing to mechanisms such as the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism as affecting climate action by developing countries, and it said the “dialogue on unilateral trade measures should address its negative impact on climate actions of developed countries”.

“New Delhi, Jun 9 (PTI) India is concerned by declining levels of climate finance, including replenishment and support, and the growing adaptation finance gap, the second secretary at the Indian embassy in Germany has said on the opening day of the United Nations’ mid-year climate meetings in Bonn”

ThePrint

In parallel with the negotiations, Climate Home News reported that the number of journalists registered to attend the annual climate negotiations in Bonn declined this year, with data from UN Climate Change showing that just 135 media representatives have signed up to attend.

Climate Home News quoted Alexandra Endres, a reporter for German-language website Table Briefings, saying, “I think it is important to have more journalists covering the negotiations because when the climate coverage increases, the interest of the public grows,” and it described press conferences as sparsely attended.

Activist Harjeet Singh, advising the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative in Bonn, called the “empty press seats here in Bonn” a “warning signal,” saying the mid-year negotiations are shaping, or ignored, the real-world consequences of the climate crisis.