Razan Al Mubarak, the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for the COP28 Presidency, has urged the private sector, local governments, and civil society to undertake more robust voluntary climate actions during the Bonn Climate Change Conference. The conference, held from 5th to 15th June, is a crucial event in the United Nations’ climate negotiations and serves as a milestone on the path towards the high-level UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) scheduled for December in the UAE.
The Bonn conference aims to make significant progress on various critical issues, including the operational details of a Loss and Damage Fund established last year to compensate victims of climate change-induced events such as flooding and sea-level rise. Additionally, discussions will focus on the Global Stocktake, an official assessment expected to be unveiled in the coming months, which evaluates global efforts in addressing the climate challenge. Experts in Bonn will work on drafting texts for adoption at COP28, covering key issues.
Decisions made at the yearly COP meetings hold legal obligations and are adopted by all parties who are signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which presently comprises 199 parties, including governments and the European Union.
In her role as the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28, Razan Al Mubarak seeks to inspire and unite non-state actors to take substantial climate action, highlighting the urgency of voluntary actions.
Al Mubarak stated, “This is a decisive decade, a decisive year for tackling climate change. It is about asking ourselves how much we are prepared to do now to secure a safe, healthy, prosperous future for ourselves and our children. To avoid the most painful and costly climate change impacts, we must halve global emissions by 2030. We are far off track, but it is still not too late to act in a meaningful way.”
As COP28 approaches, the forthcoming Global Stocktake report is expected to demonstrate that the world is falling behind in implementing the Paris Agreement and achieving its goal of limiting human-induced warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Al Mubarak emphasized the need for a comprehensive societal response to this emergency, stating, “An emergency of this kind requires a solution that embraces and uses talent from the whole of society. Alongside government action, we need a groundswell of action by businesses, cities, non-governmental organizations, indigenous peoples, youth, and women.”
Working alongside Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP27, Al Mubarak aims to bridge the gap between government efforts and the voluntary and collaborative climate actions taken by cities, regions, businesses, and investors. They also seek to enhance the accountability of these actions.
Al Mubarak’s agenda in Bonn includes bilateral meetings with major negotiating blocks representing different groups of countries in the UN climate talks, as well as public events with business and finance leaders, local government representatives, observers, and activists.
In addition to technical discussions on the Loss and Damage Fund, Al Mubarak and Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin will hold the “Actions After Impacts” event on 9th June in Bonn. This event will highlight ongoing work by non-state actors in assisting vulnerable communities affected by extreme climate events.
Another significant session on 12th June will focus on the Sharm El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda. This global plan, agreed upon in Egypt last year, aims to unify actions by countries and non-state actors in five crucial areas: food, water, oceans, human settlements, and infrastructure. Al Mubarak and Dr. Mohieldin’s event will present task forces, define priorities, and initiate action and finance mobilization.
Regarding mitigation efforts, the High-Level Champions are actively encouraging public and private entities to join the Race to Zero campaign, which aims to decarbonize the global economy. Participants commit to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest and are expected to publish annual progress reports.
Promoting nature-based solutions is another key priority for Al Mubarak, who serves as the President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Managing Director of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi and the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund.
“We know there will be no resilient, net zero future without halting and restoring nature loss,” she emphasized.
In this regard, critical steps include eliminating commodity-driven deforestation in supply chains and scaling up finance for bankable nature-based solutions such as mangroves, which sequester carbon, protect coastal communities, and sustain local livelihoods. Al Mubarak highlighted the importance of inclusivity in protecting nature, biodiversity, and enhancing climate resilience, particularly by involving women, indigenous communities, and small island states.
She said, “We need to put those on the frontline of climate change at the heart of the solution. Their perspectives are important not just because of inclusivity but because without them any solutions will be partial.”
The Bonn Climate Change Conference serves as a crucial platform for fostering international collaboration and accelerating climate action in the face of the pressing climate crisis. With Al Mubarak’s advocacy for more robust voluntary actions, there is hope for renewed momentum towards achieving the global climate goals outlined in the Paris Agreement.
