At the Bonn Climate Change Conference, being held from June 6 to 16, in Germany, governments must commit to fair and ambitious action to cut emissions and provide adequate support to the poorest and most vulnerable, so that least developed countries (LDCs) can adapt to the impacts of climate change and address the loss and damage it causes, says LDC representative at the talks and group chairperson for the bloc of 46 LDCs Madeleine Diouf Sarr.

Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are meeting to take forward negotiations on the global response to the escalating climate crisis six months after the Conference of the Parties (COP26) was held in Glasgow, Scotland.

“The climate crisis is worsening, our people and communities are suffering from the devastating impacts of climate change, while emissions continue to rise,” she says.

Key issues for discussion at Bonn include a new goal for climate finance to support developing countries address climate change; a work programme for scaling up countries’ emissions reductions targets to match the level needed to limit warming to 1.5 °C; finance to address loss and damage caused by climate change; and the beginning of a ‘global stocktake’ to assess progress on the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

“The effects of climate change are already hitting our countries and we can’t deal with them alone. Funds must be provided to support our communities to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

“At COP26, developed countries committed to doubling adaptation finance, but it’s still not clear how and when those funds will reach the communities that need them most,” says Sarr.

Further, in response to calls for finance for loss and damage caused by climate change and a proposal by the G77+China for a finance facility to address loss and damage, countries agreed to begin a “Glasgow Dialogue” on finance for loss and damage at this Bonn session.

“The issue of finance to address losses and damages already being experienced in our countries because of climate change deserves more than a dialogue,” she says.

“Countries with much greater responsibility and capabilities than ours must close the funding gap so that when the impacts of climate change hit, such as when houses and hospitals are washed away, crops are destroyed, islands sink and whole communities are displaced, the costs don’t land on already vulnerable households.

“A failure to cut emissions and provide adequate finance for adaptation is increasingly causing loss and damage in LDC countries,” Sarr says.

Additionally, there is an urgent need for global emissions reductions.

“Current levels of emissions will cause warming that threatens the survival of hundreds of millions of people. Deep cuts to global emissions are urgently needed, which means keeping fossil fuels in the ground. Limiting warming to 1.5 °C can be done, but the political will must be there.

“We, once again, plead for high emitters to commit to greater emissions reduction targets in their Nationally Determined Contributions to reflect their fair share of the global effort in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement,” she emphasises.