Where was Nigeria at Bonn Climate Change Conference?

Between June 5 and 15, 2023, climate change observers, enthusiasts, activists, delegates and stakeholders converged on Bonn, Germany for the Bonn Climate Change Conference (SB58) which, among other things, was designed to prepare decisions for adoption at COP28 in the United Arab Emirates in December.

President of the last year’s Conference of Parties (COP27), Sameh Shoukry, said in a press statement that the implementation of the outcomes and breakthroughs achieved in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in 2022 will be assessed at SB58. It became necessary for the conference to convene the 58th session of the UNFCCC subsidiary bodies where many events continued discussions on issues of critical importance such as global stocktake, the global goal on adaptation, the just transition to sustainable societies, the mitigation work programme and loss and damage, among others.

The 2023 Bonn Conference saw an all-time high 8,000 participants including an average of 1,000 virtual participants. According to information provided by the UNFCCC, the gender ratio of participants stands at  51% female and 49% male. 

At the opening plenary, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell, urged parties to demonstrate their commitment towards fully implementing all aspects of the Paris Agreement.

“I believe we are at a tipping point. We know that rapid change often follows a long gestation period. Goodness knows that the gestation period for climate action has been long enough. We need to bring that tipping point forward,” Stiell said.

Launch of the Global Stocktake Explorer

At the conference, the Climate Policy Radar launched the Global Stocktake Explorer, a tool that explores and analyses all text inputs to the first global stocktake including include submissions, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), national reports, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, etc. using in-depth search and advanced filtering. 

On the global stocktake which is an assessment of progress towards meeting the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, Stiell noted that the world was yet to be on the path to cutting emissions by 43% by 2030, compared to 2010 levels, attaining net-zero by mid-century and delivering a resilient world.

“The global stocktake at COP28 must be the turning point where we get on track to limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” Stiell said.

“Because we are already seeing climate impacts, we must invest in adaptation. Because adaptation comes too late, or funding is lacking, for many people, especially the most vulnerable, we need to address loss and damage. And because the necessary finance is not in place for mitigation and adaptation worldwide, we need to rethink the global financial architecture,” he added further.

‘All voices must be heard’

In tackling the climate crisis, many stakeholders have argued that all hands must be on deck to strengthen knowledge, technologies, practices, and efforts aimed at tackling the climate crisis. This also came to the fore at the conference when Stiell, during the Youth Global Stocktake organised by the COP28 Presidency harped on meaningful youth engagement beyond attendance at climate conference.

He said: “We must continue and enhance our support to young people so that you can meaningfully engage and influence the process and influence the trajectory for global climate goals and commitment.”

He further charged the Youth Stocktake to enhance youth involvement, adding that “we must continue and enhance our support to young people so that you can meaningfully engage and influence the process, and influence the trajectory for global climate goals and commitments. I hope the Youth Stocktake will improve our understanding of where we are in ensuring youth participation in the process. Something we have all committed to.”

The position was also championed at the Nigerian Youths Bilateral Meeting with Council Delegate by the leader of the Nigeria delegation and Director General, National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), Mr Salisu Dahiru who said “the youth in Nigeria should see themselves as a formidable force and forge strength to deliver a great outcome.”

Speaking in the same vein on the sidelines of the conference, Co-Chair of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform Facilitative Working Group (LCIPP FWG), Gunn-Britt Retter, also harped on the engagement and incorporation of concerns and actions of indigenous people.

She said: “We can’t disconnect the knowledge from the knowledge holders. We need to build capacities both among the indigenous peoples and also among the parties, so that we can have a common platform on what is important.”

Mobilising Africa’s capital for Africa’s development

Recall that a work programme to urgently scale up mitigation ambition and implementation in this critical decade in a manner that complements the global stocktake was established by parties at COP26 while at COP27, they agreed to hold at least two global dialogues every year and investment-focused events.

The Bonn Conference gave parties an opportunity to hold the first global dialogue and investment-focused event under the Sharm el-Sheikh Mitigation Ambition and Implementation Work Programme.

Speaking on “Regional Opportunities for Mobilising Investments – Africa” during the third investment-focused session at the conference, the Head of the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) under the Technology, Climate Change, and Natural Resources Management Division at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Dr James Murombedzi, harped on the need to mobilise Africa’s private sector for Africa’s energy transformation.

Murombedzi said this became necessary in order to open access to Africa’s capital for Africa’s development considering that African investors know the continent best while working more effectively with member states to address key policy and regulatory barriers. He also said the move will create a level playing field for investment in clean energy in Africa, including through increased transparency and promotion of the governance pillar of the SDG7 Initiative for Africa.

While arguing that Africa can be the global growth pole for the energy transition and drive to net zero towards the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement, he pointed out that a compelling just and equitable energy transition in Africa must be led and defined by Africa in line with the Kigali Communique, African Union Commission (AUC) Common African Position and COP27 decisions.

He further noted that such a transition plan must be based on the optimal use of the continent’s abundant renewable energy and critical mineral resources, involve Africa’s private sector and domestic markets, be supported by international partners and be attractive to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

One of the issues that elicited a controversy at the conference was the agenda for the loss and damage, particularly on the issue of finance that will enable concrete mitigation action in developing countries. 

After many days of discussions, the Chairman, Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI), Nabeel Munir, who once described the negotiations among the parties as that of “a class of primary school,” said: “Parties, observers and non-party stakeholders have conducted constructive discussions over the past six days. These discussions provide key inputs into the Global Stocktake in the thematic areas of mitigation, adaptation, means of implementation and loss and damage, and contribute to enhancing international cooperation for climate action.”

The failure to agree on an agenda, observers believe, will make constructive discussions at COP28 difficult. 

But where does Nigeria stand?

Representing Nigeria at the conference is a high-powered 34-man Nigerian delegation registered for on-site participation at the conference drawn from the NCCC, Federal Ministry of Environment, Federal Ministry of Science and Technology and Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA).

Aside from this, there are other youth, gender, private sector delegations representing the Nigeria people at the conference regarding issues of climate change. However, checks by Nigeria Tribune showed little or next-to-nothing has been heard regarding the demands and proposals of the most populous African country at the Bonn Conference.

A climate justice activist and one of the youth negotiators for Nigeria in the area of climate change, Mr Olumide Idowu, expressed dismay that nothing concrete has been put forward as the country’s demands at SB58.

“Most of us don’t even know what Nigeria is agitating for at SB58. The two key areas of negotiations at the conference are climate finance and loss and damage,” he told Nigerian Tribune over the phone. “I think it is high time we ask our government about our collective positions at conferences like this that we go for. What the African group of negotiators are asking for is funding towards loss and damage. And despite the deadline, the consensus has shown that negotiation has not really been successful because countries are not ready to commit to the promises they gave to developing countries.”

Speaking further, he said: “How much of the focus of the global stocktake has reflected Nigeria’s actions and problems regarding loss and damage. When it comes to technological transfer, how many of the Nigerian conversations and technological innovation has been on the table for developing countries to see. Rather, the issue of mitigation and adaptation cannot wait if we continue to attend conferences like this without concrete asks or demands.

“The disagreement they have over the agenda at SB58 is about funding and mitigation and these two areas are what the Nigerian government are looking at but nothing has come out. In the Nigerian context, what are elements, what are the conversations, what is the progress and what are the number of topics that Nigeria has put forward including research, education, adaptation, success of our NDCs, just transition plan, energy transition plan and long-term emission strategy that Nigeria is working on. How do we see all these in the context of SB58. At first, we don’t have asks and secondly, many of the asks are not even seen as a demand by developed countries.”

The Bonn Climate Change Conference closed on Thursday, June 15, after two weeks of intense work that made progress on several critical issues, helping lay the groundwork for the political decisions required at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) at the end of the year.

“Having taken nearly two weeks to agree an agenda, it is easy to believe we are far apart on many issues, but from what I have seen and heard, there are bridges that can be built to realize the common ground we know exists,” said Stiell.

“World-changing agreements happen when negotiators rise to the occasion, reach out and find compromises, then manage to convince their capitals of the merit and necessity of those compromises.”

At the Bonn meeting, progress was made on issues of critical importance, including the global stocktake, climate finance, loss and damage, and adaptation, among many others.

Stiell singled out the global stocktake, which will conclude at COP28, as a moment to course correct to get the world on track to limiting the temperature rise in line with the Paris Agreement.

Delegates at the Bonn conference wrapped up the last meeting of the technical dialogue of the first global stocktake – laying the ground for more ambitious climate action.

“Pledges by Parties and their implementation are far from enough,” said Stiell. “So, the response to the stocktake will determine our success – the success of COP28, and far more importantly, success in stabilizing our climate.”

This report is produced in fulfilment of the UNESCO & CIJ London Climate Change in News Media project facilitated by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development