By Bunmi Yekini
BONN, Germany — ActionAid has warned that the ongoing UN climate talks in Bonn risk producing a “confusing combination of good, bad and ugly outcomes,” as delegates prepare for Week Two of the negotiations.
In a statement on Friday, Teresa Anderson, Global Lead on Climate Justice at ActionAid, acknowledged progress on some fronts but expressed deep concern over rich countries’ reluctance to pay their fair share.
“The good news is that governments are starting to get excited about Just Transition,” Anderson said. “Agreeing a Just Transition mechanism at COP30 would send a powerful message to the world that workers and communities are at the heart of climate action. Instead of being in conflict with people’s daily needs, Just Transition means that climate action can deliver job security, affordable food and energy access.”
But she warned that wealthy countries’ continued resistance to direct finance is leaving vulnerable countries to bear the financial burden of climate impacts.
“With rich countries’ refusal to provide real grant-based money for those on the front lines of the climate crisis, the Global South has been left holding the cleanup bill for the Global North’s climate-wrecking party,” Anderson said.
She further criticised what she called opportunistic financial schemes.
“Even worse, under the Baku to Belém Roadmap to £1.3 trillion, rich countries are pushing their private finance instruments to supposedly ‘fill the gap’ in funding,” she said. “But rather than being a climate solution, the loans, corporate investments and carbon offset schemes they promote are a strategic way for the Global North to squeeze ever more profits and control from the Global South. Private finance is a Trojan horse that will likely push many climate-impacted communities deeper into poverty.”
As the talks enter their second week, ActionAid is calling on negotiators to put people first and deliver on commitments that will genuinely support a fair, just, and sustainable future.