Closing of UN climate meeting in Bonn : « Real strides forward, but significant divides remain » (S. Stiel)
"There remain significant divides, and significant work for the intersessional period ahead. But we have seen a seriousness in tackling key issues, and a determination to find solutions. In key areas we have taken real strides forward - showing climate cooperation at work, and this process doing its job", said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiel, during the closing of the UN June Climate Meetings (SB64) which took place in Bonn from 08 to 18/06/2026.
He notably mentioned :
• "Important step forwards on just transition, turning the promise of the just transition mechanism into a reality, and to set up the review of the just transition work programme.
• Crucial groundwork on action for climate empowerment, for accelerating a just transition, and deepening participation and engagement across societies".
Yet, on adaptation and mitigation, he regrets that "parties voiced the need to deepen and accelerate action, but very disappointingly, we did not deliver on that in Bonn".
Regarding the COP31 Presidency announced targets for electrification, and especially the “35x35” goal to reach 35% of electrification by 2035, Simon Stiel insisted that, with Minister Kurum (Türkiye) and Minister Bowen (Australia) - government official leading the upcoming COP31 -, "they are in lock-step".
"The negotiations and the Action Agenda are both vital, separate but parallel and on complementary tracks. COP31 must deliver real strides forward in both", he added.
Simon Stiel also came to the conclusion that "in some areas, we have seen some side-stepping and stalling. We have seen geopolitical tensions washing through these halls. We must all deliver on existing obligations and plans under the Convention and Paris Agreement. And we simply cannot afford to re-open previous decisions, to renegotiate existing targets, or to backslide".
"Parties cannot cherry-pick commitments that suit tactically in the moment"
According to the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, "all Parties must be comfortable and confident in restating our existing global commitments - without cherry-picking those that suit tactically in the moment".
"in some negotiating rooms, we have heard a familiar tendency towards you-first-ism : Groups refusing to deliver commitments or allow the process to move forward unless others go first. This is a recipe for gridlock when we need all negotiating tracks to be moving in the fast lane. So that we make real progress towards implementation in Antalya and Addis Ababa and arrive at the second global stocktake at COP33 much closer to delivering on the pledges made at the first".
"The leadership of Türkiye and Australia will be vital"
He insisted on the leadership of Türkiye and Australia, which "will be vital, so will the ongoing support of Azerbaijan, Brazil and Ethiopia".
"Pre-COP in Fiji and Tuvalu is a key moment on the road to Antalya. But we cannot wait until then to step up efforts to find common ground on the tough issues. So I urge you to bring in your Ministers as soon as possible, in the weeks and months ahead. Particularly on the thorniest issues.
I also asked a group of experts to consider ways that our process could be optimised or evolve - recognising all that it has achieved, and its Party-owned nature and foundations".
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