Governments must stop revisiting climate commitments and start delivering on them, United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell said on Monday, warning that continued dependence on fossil fuels was driving inflation, economic instability and growing vulnerability to climate disasters.
Opening the annual UN climate talks in Bonn , Germany, Stiell urged negotiators to focus on implementing agreements rather than reopening old debates.
He warned that the world was running out of time to respond to worsening climate impacts and economic shocks.
His remarks set the tone for two weeks of negotiations that will focus on adaptation, climate finance and the implementation of the commitments made under the Paris Agreement.
“Tackling the global climate crisis is the hardest but most important thing humanity has ever tried to do together, he said, noting that despite setbacks, international cooperation was beginning to deliver results.
“We are not yet where we need to be. But we are somewhere we have never been before.”
However, progress remained too slow. “We don’t have time to re-open past debates or renegotiate commitments already made,” Stiell said, pointing to deadly heatwaves , climate-fuelled economic shocks and geopolitical instability as reasons for accelerating action.
Stiell linked fossil fuel dependence to economic hardship.
“It’s crystal clear: continuing our fossil fuel dependency means continuing to import inflation and economic instability,” he said, warning that countries remain exposed to energy price shocks and climate-related disasters, which were “taking a wrecking ball to lives and prosperity everywhere”.
“We must go further, faster: delivering fully on our Paris obligations and on plans made under the agreement.”
Stiell also signalled a growing focus on implementation in the UN climate process. Countries had called for more efficient negotiations, improved access to climate finance and reduced reporting burdens, he said, adding that the UN climate secretariat was exploring ways to support the efforts.
Among the priorities for the Bonn talks are advancing work on the Global Goal on Adaptation , which aims to enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change, and the development of adaptation indicators.
Further priorities include implementing outcomes from the first Global Stocktake , which is
designed to assess the global response to the climate crisis every five years, developing a just transition mechanism and progressing discussions on climate finance, including the Adaptation Fund.
Stiell also called for closer links between climate negotiations and the real economy, urging governments, businesses, investors and cities to work together on energy security, food security, urban resilience and methane reduction.
“The hard work continues,” he told delegates. “Make these two weeks count.”
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