Highlights and images for 12 June 2026

The biannual climate conferences entail more than multilateral negotiations. They also feature dialogue sessions and serve as a platform for various actors to launch new initiatives, publicize research insights, and network with one another.

This has made it difficult for people who are not so familiar with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process to distinguish the multilaterally-agreed outputs from other types of announcements made at climate conferences. The proliferation of Presidency-led initiatives over the past few years has contributed to further blurring this line—especially as some of these initiatives are reflected in governing body decisions, while others are not.

Want to dig deeper into today's talks? Read the full Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily report.

Many of the day’s discussions in Bonn showcased just that. While the number of official negotiation sessions was relatively small, discussions across the day convened in a variety of other formats. Brazil, as the outgoing Presidency, held an event on its work on transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly, and equitable manner so as to achieve net zero by 2050—an issue notoriously absent from  the “Global Mutirão,” the key decision adopted in Belém.

Other sessions addressed the “Global Implementation Accelerator” and the “Belém Mission to 1.5°C,” which, for their part, are initiatives launched under the Mutirão decision. Speakers’ statements highlighted confusion as to the shape of these initiatives and how they differ, seeing as they are both aimed at accelerating implementation of nationally determined contributions and national adaptation plans.

A mandated event also took place for participants to reflect on climate action in mountain regions. Discussions touched upon, among others:

• rising glacier mass loss and resulting flash floods;
• climate impacts on mountains extending to downstream areas, including coastal regions;
• digital solutions for flood management and landslide hazard awareness; and
• entry points for enhanced action on mountains in existing UNFCCC workstreams.

In another mandated event, participants reflected on what information on the impacts of response measures—meaning the repercussions of climate action—should feed into the second Global Stocktake. Among others:

• Canada highlighted benefits related to economic diversification and just transition;
• Russia called for assessing the transboundary impacts of border adjustment measures such as the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism; and
• Ghana pointed to impacts on the informal economy.