The 64th Session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies (SB 64) opened in Bonn on 8 June 2026, running through 18 June, with UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell urging delegates to honour existing commitments rather than relitigating past agreements. Stiell framed the stakes around dual pressures: ongoing energy market disruption linked to conflict in West Asia, and what the source characterises as an impendingthat adds further urgency to stalled negotiations.
India and other Global South delegations used opening plenary statements to defend the continued relevance of the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC), which they say has eroded in recent negotiating rounds. India specifically cited declining climate finance flows and a widening adaptation funding gap as top concerns. Experts quoted by CarbonCopy note that SB 64 must clarify how the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) of $300 billion maps onto the broader $1.3 trillion mobilisation target referenced in the Baku to Belem Road Map, and must give structural definition to Loss and Damage Fund allocation before COP31 in Turkey later this year.
The session faces a backdrop in which several developed countries have pulled back from climate commitments in favour of fossil-fuel energy security — a shift multiple experts quoted by the source describe as sidelining mitigation ambition. The EU bloc is expected to press a fossil fuel phase-out roadmap, complicating negotiations for coal-dependent developing economies. A further procedural tension arose from the Santa Marta Conference (held 24–29 April 2026 in Colombia), an unofficial gathering in which 57 countries agreed in principle on time-bound national plans to transition away from coal, oil, and gas; Indian analysts cautioned that this “coalition of the willing” outcome should not be allowed to override the formal UNFCCC multilateral process.
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