Special Edition: SB 62 - Key Topics and Outcomes

SB62 - Key Topics and Outcomes

By now most people have heard of the annual Conference of Parties or COP that is held to advance the work of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). While COP is only held once a year, there are several meetings between COPs that act as key milestones to help prepare for the final negotiations.

One such meeting which occurs at the half-way point in Bonn, Germany is called a Subsidiary Bodies or SB meeting, where the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) meet to advance technical negotiations, review progress, and prepare drafts for the upcoming COP. Conclusions from the SB meetings are typically non-binding but serve as a litmus test for key parts of the negotiation.

A Slow Start

This year’s SB62 negotiations were off to a shaky start with ‘agenda wars’ delaying the start of the session. Bolivia acting on behalf of the Like-Minded Group of Developing Countries (LMDC) negotiating group, which also includes China and Saudi Arabia, proposed the addition of two items pertaining to Article 9.1 (developed countries providing climate finance) and ‘trade-restrictive unilateral measures’ (specifically EU’s CBAM). The items were not accepted into the formal agenda but did derail the start by two days.

For the first time in 30 years the United States did not send a delegation to Bonn. While the US has pulled out of the Paris Agreement, it is still a part of the UNFCCC and could have used this opportunity to align negotiations with its national interests. With a key partner like the US missing, geopolitical tensions rising and with 2025 marking a decade since the Paris Agreement, questions were raised around the COP process.

It didn’t help that nearly every country missed the February 2025 deadline to submit more ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the UNFCCC. Ideas were floated around limiting size of delegations, archiving some agenda items, voting mechanisms and the role of ‘petrostates’ as the Brazil Presidency continued to urge countries to submit their updated NDCs by September so there is enough time to review before COP30.

Familiar Divisions

As with every year, climate finance remained a divisive topic in multiple workstreams creating the familiar developed-developing/ global north-global south divides. Discussion on metrics that can define progress on the Global Goal on Adaptation and discussions on National Adaptation Plans eventually resulted in debates on ‘Means of Implementation’ referring to the finance required for adaptation, with developed countries wary of its inclusion and developing countries in support of it.

COP29 - also known as the finance COP - concluded with an agreement to increase financing to developing countries from USD 100 billion annually to USD 300 billion annually by 2035 and to ‘secure efforts of all actors’ to scale up finance to USD 1.3 trillion per year by 2035. Developing countries re-emphasized the inadequacy of the USD 300 billion ‘New Collective Quantified Goal,’ which in itself seems unlikely to be fulfilled given US and major European countries announcing aid cuts. Consultations were held on bridging the gap to the USD 1.3 trillion goal, but no concrete measures were introduced on how this will be achieved.

Scope Creep

The Mitigation work program discussions focused mostly on the creation of a digital platform to facilitate mitigation action. Some parties believed such work is not in the team’s skillset and will divert attention away from its core purpose, in addition to duplicating efforts. Similarly, the Just Transition Work Program saw debates around whether its scope should be limited to worker’s transition or be more holistic in terms of equity and social inclusion.

Other topics such as integrating gender into climate work, reintroduction of language around ‘transitioning away' from fossil fuels, and Global Stocktake were discussed but without a clear direction forward were moved to be further negotiated at SB63.

COP30 and COP31

Logistically, concerns were raised again around finding accommodation in Belém for COP30. The rainforest city is not yet well-equipped to absorb a large influx of visitors. The number of available accommodation has already doubled between January and May—from 18,000 to 36,000—but it’s still not close to the 50,000 people expected. Prices for rooms remain high making them inaccessible for many developing nations, NGOs and activists.

The host for COP31 remains a mystery with Australia and Türkiye as top contenders. Several European countries have backed Australia’s bid to host and the final decision sits with the countries forming the ‘Western Europe and Other States’ group, none of whom have supported Türkiye so far. Türkiye was expected to withdraw during SB62 with speculation that it might do so if it is no longer treated as a “developed” country (Annex 1 Country) under the UNFCCC. Being considered a developed or developing country under the UNFCC has significant ramifications on whether one is a donor or a receiver of climate finance.

The SB62 negotiations in Bonn set a complex road ahead for COP30, highlighting ongoing divisions, skepticism on goals and processes and the urgent need for more effective climate action. Read other coverage here by Carbon Brief, IISD and the Guardian for more.