English Version
“Bonn” could sum up the third letter from the president of COP30, André Corrêa do Lago. In a preparatory tone for the UNFCCC Conference taking place in June in Germany, the text issues a call to negotiators, continuing the “global mutirão” tone that has been present since the first letter. One could say the ambassador is calling negotiators to join the collective task force. But unlike previous messages, which invited “everyone to come and bring whatever they could contribute,” this time the message is more targeted. The mission goes beyond a general call to act on climate—it frames both the climate emergency and the future of multilateralism as resting in the hands of those who can make decisions and deliver concrete results. “The credibility of our multilateral process is in the hands of negotiators in Bonn.
We invite all negotiators to engage as co-builders of this global infrastructure of trust. By working together in a task-force mode, negotiators can ensure significant progress at SB 62 in June,” the letter states.
And these concrete results, it emphasizes, will be seen at the most micro level of social life. The Brazilian ambassador stressed that diplomacy, operating under a sense of urgency, can save its own legitimacy by delivering solutions for what he called “people’s real lives.” The credibility of negotiation rooms and diplomatic processes will come through practical outcomes that benefit ordinary people who are already feeling the effects of climate change.
“The abstraction of our work must begin to resonate in lived experience. Legitimacy will follow from real-world relevance and delivery.It would be highly displaced if the first formal negotiation space of the year – the SBs in June – gave way to procrastination and postponement of decisions. Failure to progress on agreed upon mandates at SB62 will further erode trust in the continued ability of multilateral process to deliver the outcomes mankind needs”, he argued. With this call, Corrêa do Lago reinforces that none of us has time to lose: meetings and discussions must be assertive, resolute, and above all, move toward implementation. When the agenda is climate, lives are buried with every diplomatic setback.
This warning aligns with ideas the COP presidency has been promoting for some time—suggesting reforms to UNFCCC processes and building around the Belém COP a turning point from ambition to implementation. In this sense, the letter signals a shift in thinking and working and invites readers to imagine a successful future in which climate negotiations function as mechanisms to accelerate progress. “Looking ahead, future COPs can represent a new generation of climate conferences: not as isolated diplomatic events, but as systemic platforms to accelerate delivery, measure progress, and engage a broader ecosystem of actors. They must be designed as convergence points – where ambition meets alignment, and global decisions ignite local transformations”. A vision for optimists, realists, and pessimists alike.
In advocating for implementation and tangible outcomes, the letter underscores that climate policy only works when it brings change in the socioeconomic sphere—explicitly naming poverty reduction and the promotion of social equality, with a keen focus on vulnerable populations.
“Climate policy will only succeed if it encompasses socioeconomic change. Poverty eradication and alleviation, reduction of the inequality gap, within and among countries, equity and justice for the most vulnerable should underpin all work streams and negotiation tracks of the UNFCCC governing and subsidiary bodies. All agendas matter when the future is at stake”.
Adaptation and Transition on the Table
In terms of negotiation topics, the letter addresses something missing in previous texts: an explicit defense of the transition away from fossil fuels (the TAFF established in Baku). After all, if we are calling for a global task force with action and implementation as its mantras, abandoning fossil fuels cannot be sidelined. The Global Stocktake (GST) is presented as a guiding framework for the mission to limit global warming to 1.5°C: “All public and private stakeholders should work together towards the full implementation of the Paris Agreement by taking into account the findings of the GST. This includes the global calls for efforts towards halting and reversing deforestation and forest degradation by 2030, and for accelerating the global energy transition. We must support one another to advance collectively on tripling renewable energy capacity globally, doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements, and transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly, and equitable manner.”
Adaptation—which should be a top priority at the next COP—was strongly emphasized and treated as a central issue. The need to conclude negotiations on indicators for the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA)—a proposal we’ve directly submitted to the COP presidency—is mentioned repeatedly. “A key area for our meeting in June, adaptation is the visible face of the global response to climate change and a central pillar for aligning climate action with sustainable development. In the spirit of taskforce and political will, we will focus on delivering tangible benefits for societies, ecosystems, and economies by advancing and concluding the key mandates in this agenda — particularly the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs)”, he said.
This third document fills in some gaps left by the previous letters. The COP30 Presidency’s letters are forming an ongoing dialogue. By analyzing them, highlighting key points and political signals, and pointing out flaws in the pathway forward, we aim to send messages to decision-makers—pushing them to act with the engaged, coherent, and above all, technical perspective that climate policy demands. If dialogue happens and this process is reflected across COP’s multiple agendas—negotiation, action, and mobilization—we’ll be part of a global task force that brings benefits for us all.
