BONN, GE / GENEVA, CH, June 2nd, 2022 – Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) experts will be attending the upcoming climate negotiations at the 56th session of the Subsidiary Bodies to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (SB56) in Bonn, Germany, from June 2 to June 16. These experts will be available for comment before, during, and after the meeting.
The climate talks in Bonn take place in the context of mounting climate chaos and stark reminders of the urgent need to end global reliance on fossil fuels. The government representatives gathering over the coming two weeks need to restore confidence in the climate negotiations, after the lack of adequate progress at COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland last November. Since then, the IPCC released alarming reports articulating the dangers of overshooting 1.5 degrees of warming and the scientific imperative for immediate action to tackle the root causes of climate change. Extreme temperatures and aberrant weather events continued to illustrate the devastating impacts described in these reports. And the war waged by Putin against Ukraine has provided a tragic reminder, through gross human rights violations, that fossil fuel dependency directly sustains despotic regimes and foments violence, destabilizing global peace, the global economy, and the global climate. Despite these clear signals, very few governments have meaningfully increased the ambition of their climate action. Instead, and often under the influence of corporate lobbyists, many have expanded their support for fossil gas and other non-renewable sources of energy, and doubled-down on false climate solutions, like carbon capture and storage and large-scale carbon dioxide removal.
CIEL experts will be closely following the negotiations at SB56, monitoring governments’ response to the enormous ambition gap and demands for climate justice, while paying particular attention to techno-fixes and far-off promises of mid-century “net-zero,” which put communities and ecosystems at risk. They will be working to ensure decisions reached do not come at the expense of ambition and of human rights, including the rights of Indigenous Peoples, but instead help enable meaningful action at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, later this year.
Experts will be available to discuss the link between human rights and the climate crisis, particularly in the context of public participation and access to information, carbon trading mechanisms established under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, loss and damage, and the first “Global Stocktake” of progress towards the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
CIEL Experts in Bonn:
(All participating CIEL staff have Blue Zone accreditation.)
Erika Lennon — CIEL Senior Attorney specializing in carbon markets and Article 6, climate finance, the Green Climate Fund, social and environmental safeguards, and redress mechanisms. Erika will be in Bonn from June 6th to June 16th. Follow Erika on Twitter.
Francesca Mingrone — CIEL Attorney following negotiations on Public Participation in climate policy making. Francesca will be in Bonn from June 6th to June 12th. Follow Francesca on Twitter.
Lien Vandamme — CIEL Senior Campaigner following negotiations on Loss and Damage and the Global Stocktake. Lien will be in Bonn from June 6th to June 16th. Follow Lien on Twitter.
Sébastien Duyck — CIEL Senior Attorney specializing in the intersection between human rights and climate change, including the integration of human rights and participatory planning in national climate commitments. Seb will be in Bonn from June 1st to June 9th & from June 14th to June 15th. Follow Seb on Twitter.
Additional availability:
Nikki Reisch — CIEL Director of Climate & Energy, specializing in fossil fuel phase-out, false climate solutions, net-zero plans, and climate litigation. Nikki will follow the SB56 remotely. Follow Nikki on Twitter.
Media contact:
To schedule interviews please contact press(at)ciel.org, or directly to Rossella Recupero — CIEL’s Communications Associate at +41762165976
Posted on June 2nd, 2022