Climate negotiations: business community concerned about slow progress

The latest round of the United Nations climate change negotiations – the Bonn climate change conference – finished yesterday in Bonn, Germany. BusinessEurope is concerned about the slow progress made at this meeting, ahead of the COP24 event in Katowice, Poland, in December 2018. Delegates prepared negotiating texts to allow governments to reach agreement on the Paris Rulebook at COP24 in Katowice. The Paris Rulebook contains the rules and procedures to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement.

BusinessEurope Director General Markus J. Beyrer commented: “Completion of the Paris Rulebook at COP24 in Katowice will be a crucial signal to businesses to continue and increase their investments in combating climate change. The European business community is at the forefront of developing and deploying new technologies to move us towards a low-carbon future.”

However, despite extensive efforts the meeting was unable to finalise a negotiating text and an additional meeting will be required in September 2018. “We are disappointed that governments failed to finish the negotiating text at the conference in Bonn and that a further meeting is required. It is crucial that governments adopt the Paris Rulebook at COP24 to provide the confidence that their actions match their words,” Beyrer concluded.