The UN Climate Talks in Bonn Just Failed. Why?
Delegates gather for the opening plenary of the June UN Climate Meetings in Bonn. Credit: Kiara Worth / IISD/ENB EX, North Carolina / SAN FRANCISCO, California, Jun 30 2026 (IPS) - With progress stalled on many issues, this year’s June talks in Bonn—which are supposed to smooth the way towards COP 31 in Antalya at year’s end—were widely judged a failure. What happened? And what does it mean for Antalya? (first published with InterPress Service here) “Deliberately delaying us.” “Spreading misinformation.” “Denying the science.” “Lacking integrity.” “Blocking progress.” “Costing countless lives.” These were just some of the charges delegates leveled at each other during the UN Climate Meetings held in Bonn this June. As delegates took up multiple issues in small “contact groups” and “informal consultations”, negotiations quickly became tetchy and irritable before descending into levels of rancor and even rudeness rarely seen before. And it was not just one issue where tempers fray...