Every year, the Bonn Climate Change Conference – formally the sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies (SBs) of the UNFCCC – serves as a mid-year checkpoint on the way to the annual COP. With over 6,000 national delegates and civil society representatives in attendance, SB62 (16-26 June 2025) is far from routine. 

As the main turning point in the international climate calendar, SB62 marks the transition between the outcomes of COP 29 and the political and technical definitions that will guide COP 30, which will be hosted in Belém, Brazil. This year's conference takes place in a crucial context: in addition to the pending negotiations in Baku, the Brazilian presidency proposes a conceptual shift, transforming COP 30 into an implementation landmark, with a focus on concrete actions and solutions that originate in local territories.

In this strategic scenario, ICLEI South America is participating with a delegation made up of subnational leaders from the region, reaffirming the organisation's commitment to promoting multi-level climate governance and strengthening the presence of local and regional governments on the global climate agenda.

The delegation includes high-level representatives from local governments, such as:

• Marjorie Kauffmann, Secretary of Environment and Infrastructure for Rio Grande do Sul and Vice-President of ICLEI South America;
• Axel Grael, Strategic Consultant for Sustainability and Climate for the city of Niterói (RJ);
• André Godinho, Executive Secretary for COP30;
• María Pilar Bueno, Deputy Minister for Climate Change and Ecological Transition for the city of Rosario, Argentina;
• Gutemberg Silva, Chairman-Director of the Amapá State Research Support Foundation (FAPEAP);
• Leonardo Rodrigues and Renata de Araújo, representatives of the Minas Gerais State Secretariat for Environment and Sustainable Development.

With technical and strategic support from ICLEI South America, the delegation actively participated in sessions, panels, and parallel meetings focusing on key themes for the territories: urban adaptation, climate finance, biodiversity, climate justice, and the integration of environmental agendas. This action aligns with ICLEI's historical role as the focal point for the Local Government and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) Constituency, the official channel for subnational governments to interact with the UNFCCC since 1995.

Here are some highlights from the activities:

Annual Review of Local Incidence at the Rio Conventions

Climate change, biodiversity loss and desertification are strongly interlinked and pose existential challenges for humanity. Governments convened to discuss and confront these existential challenges at the Earth Summit (ECO-92). The three Rio Conventions are the result of concerns about similar environmental and development issues and have sustainable development at their core: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

During the agenda, representatives from local and subnational governments discussed progress and synergies between the Climate, Biodiversity, and Desertification Conventions. María Pilar Bueno, from the Undersecretariat for Climate Change and Ecological Transition of the city of Rosario, Argentina, presented urban adaptation experiences in a scenario of warming above 1.5°C. Axel Grael, as a special envoy from Niterói (Brazil), participated in the closing, reinforcing the leading role of local governments in multilateral environmental governance. 

“Integrating climate and biodiversity agendas is essential to accelerate the implementation of actions that prepare cities to face the extreme effects of the climate crisis. An example of this approach is the Nature-Based Cities project developed in Belém — a city that will host COP30. The initiative involved mapping ecosystem services and analysing climate risks and vulnerabilities, enabling the identification of critical areas and supporting the planning of strategic climate change mitigation and adaptation actions,” highlighted Bianca Cantoni, Co-ordinator of Institutional Relations and Advocacy at ICLEI South America.

COP30 & Urbanisation: Multi-level Action and Sustainable Urbanisation to Meet the Paris Agreement

During the event, organised by UN-Habitat, ICLEI, and the University of Southern Denmark, a new guideline was launched to strengthen the urban content of NDCs. Antonio da Costa e Silva, from Brazil's Ministry of Cities, highlighted Brazil's experience in integrating urban priorities into national climate policies. Gutemberg Silva, from the Amapá Research Support Foundation, shared the state's practices in coordinating between government levels to tackle climate disasters and drive urban adaptation.

Capacity Building for Nationally Determined Financial Sector Development – Case Studies on Climate Adaptation and Resilience in Diverse Contexts

The discussion focused on strengthening capacities for the development of financial sectors aligned with climate resilience. The Secretary of Environment and Infrastructure of Rio Grande do Sul and Vice-President of ICLEI, Marjorie Kauffmann, represented Brazil on an expert panel, highlighting experiences and needs for integrating adaptation and resilience into national financial policies and systems.

Path to Bethlehem: Community work and implementation

ICLEI South America's participation in SB62 reinforces the centrality of subnational action in the success of COP30. The conference, which will take place in November in the Brazilian Amazon, will be marked by the global call for the implementation of commitments made in climate agreements. The Brazilian presidency proposes that COP30 be the “Implementation COP,” guided by four strategic pillars and inspired by the spirit of a “global collective effort” against the climate crisis: a collective and decentralised mobilisation based on the contributions of territories.

In this context, ICLEI, as the focal point for LGMA, acts as a catalyst for multilevel climate governance. In Bonn, the ICLEI South America delegation demonstrates that local and regional governments are ready to lead solutions, influence negotiations, and implement actions. The SB62 discussions addressed crucial themes at the heart of the COP30 agenda and the reality for cities and regions in South America.

The activities continue this Wednesday (18/06) with the Bonn Dialogues of Daring Cities 2025, in which representatives of the ICLEI South America delegation will have a space to contribute on how to enhance successful multilevel actions, alongside invited local, subnational, and national governments, as well as businesses, universities, and civil society.