Back from two weeks in Bonn for the annual #UNFCCC climate change conference #SB64 (sort of a pre-COP).
Final agreed text on science has no discussion of tipping points, the prevalence of mis- and disinformation, to 1.5 degree pathways, or to emission reduction. All negotiated away by a few parties, who are accusing others of what they're themselves guilty of.
Still, avoiding damage is also crucially important, given the far-reaching implications of the UNFCCC process.
Press conference under the banner of "Friends of Science" (not to be confused with a science denialist group of the same name), to call out the various efforts to undermine climate science in the climate negotiations, as during the past two weeks in Bonn. #SB64
Any formal UNFCCC text has to be agreed upon by consensus. This means that every party has effectively (though not formally) a right to veto.
That's what makes negotiations so complex, and obstruction so easy.
There is value in having such a consensus-based process however, since after signing off, all parties are bound to it. That train is moving, and albeit slowly, it has gigantic mass. The resulting momentum is a powerful engine of climate policies worldwide.
See https://www.carbonbrief.org/bonn-climate-talks-key-outcomes-from-the-june-2026-un-climate-conference/ for a good overview of the #SB64 climate conference in Bonn.
'Many countries criticised “coordinated attacks” on science by those with “fossil-fuel interests”
When asked which parties were behind these “attacks”, Sivendra Michael, chief negotiator for Fiji, told Carbon Brief:
“It is the usual suspects that seek to block progress…We are seeing efforts to remove references to the IPCC and the 1.5C temperature limit.”'
Bart Verheggen
