Status of the UNFCCC Negotiations

The Bonn climate talks served as the first of six negotiating sessions in 2009 aimed at establishing a post-2012 climate regime. While the meetings produced no tangible results, they narrowed gaps between Parties on mitigation, adaptation, technology, and financing. Key tensions persist regarding the scale of emission reductions for developed countries, the role of the United States and China, and the governance of climate finance.

• The Bonn meetings were the first in a series of at least six planned for 2009, intended to prepare a comprehensive post-2012 climate agreement for adoption at COP 15 in Copenhagen in December 2009. While they led to no tangible results, the UNFCCC Executive Secretary stated they succeeded in "narrowing gaps among Parties".
• Mitigation discussions under the AWG-LCA focused on nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs) for developing countries and the requirement for these actions to be "measurable, reportable and verifiable (MRV)". There is ongoing disagreement over whether MRV should apply to the actions themselves or only to the support provided by developed countries.
• Negotiations on REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) showed convergence on including conservation in a "REDD+" mechanism, though Parties remain divided on whether to use direct public assistance or market-based approaches, such as forest carbon-trading.
• Under the AWG-KP, developed countries failed to agree on the scale of aggregate emission reductions for the post-2012 period. Some discussions referenced an IPCC range of "25 to 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020", but developing countries rejected a "bottom up" approach based on individual national pledges.
• Developing countries are seeking an overarching framework for adaptation that treats adaptation and mitigation on an "equal footing" and includes a mechanism for "loss and damage, including insurance". They advocate for funding that is "new, predictable and additional to official development assistance".
• Significant disagreement exists regarding technology transfer, specifically concerning intellectual property rights (IPR). Developing countries proposed relaxing IPR through "compulsory licensing" or "patent pooling", while developed countries, such as Japan, argued that protecting IPR is essential to "recoup innovation costs".
• Climate financing remains unresolved, with a fundamental divide: developing countries prefer public funds and a new institutional framework under the UNFCCC, while developed nations believe funding should come "mainly from the private sector" and utilize existing institutions like the World Bank and Global Environment Facility (GEF).
• The re-engagement of the United States under the Obama administration was noted as having a positive effect on the "tenor of constructive engagement" in Bonn, despite the U.S. lacking a detailed domestic implementation plan or a finalized international negotiating position at the time.

APA

Murphy, D., & Drexhage, J. (2009). Status of the UNFCCC Negotiations. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/status_unfccc_bonn.pdf

Chicago

Murphy, Deborah, and John Drexhage. Status of the UNFCCC Negotiations. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2009. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/status_unfccc_bonn.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Murphy |first1=Deborah |last2=Drexhage |first2=John |title=Status of the UNFCCC Negotiations |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=May 2009 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/status_unfccc_bonn.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{murphy2009status, author = {Murphy, Deborah and Drexhage, John}, title = {{Status of the UNFCCC Negotiations}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2009}, month = may, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/status_unfccc_bonn.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }