IKI event during the June Climate Meetings 2025
Around 140 participants from the IKI community took the opportunity to network with each other on the sidelines of the event week.
The 2025 World Climate Conference (COP30) will be held in Brazil in November and is fast approaching. The precursor to this major event are the June Climate Meetings, also known as the Bonn Climate Change Conference or SB session (session of the subsidiary bodies), which were held in Bonn on 16-26 June. Participants from around the globe attended the event week in preparation for the respective COP meetings.
In terms of the International Climate Initiative (IKI), the Bonn Climate Change Conference is now established as an excellent opportunity to bring together members of the IKI community who are attending the meeting to exchange experiences.
“The IKI remains the IKI”
The networking evening was opened by the three “IKI ministries”.
Philipp Behrens, Head of the Division “International Climate Initiative” at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE), stated:
"It is an important basis for our work in the International Climate Initiative that our new German government is sticking to the national climate targets, as well as the goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2045. The government has also agreed to continue to provide a fair share of international climate finance. For the International Climate Initiative, this means that the core of the IKI remains the IKI. In other words, our working basis remains the “IKI Strategy to 2030” with the priorities that we have outlined there."
Anne-Mareike Vanselow, Acting Head of the Division “Climate Partnerships, Bilateral Climate Cooperation, International Climate Initiative” at the Federal Foreign Office (AA), added:
“This year is incredibly important for climate action and the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, which was signed exactly 10 years ago. There are numerous crises in the world today, so we must work together to ensure that climate action is not neglected. The role of the International Climate Initiative is crucial here, because our projects demonstrate that we can find some excellent and viable solutions to the challenges posed by climate change."
Nicolas Schäfstoß, Head of the Division “International Finance” at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, focused on the connection between climate action and the preservation of biodiversity:
"We need to focus on both mega-crises, climate change and the loss of biodiversity. Reducing greenhouse gases will only be successful if we think about climate protection and healthy ecosystems in combination. A central goal is to increase biodiversity financing and to establish it on a solid basis in the long term. The International Climate Initiative also plays an important role here. Our experience from the IKI projects shows that integrated solutions and close cooperation in dealing with the two mega-crises are clearly among the success factors."
„Investing in Climate for Growth and Development”
The keynote speech was given by Sirini Jeudy-Hugo from the OECD Environment Directorate. She presented the current report “Investing in Climate for Growth and Development. The Case for Enhanced NDCs“ where the core message is that ambitious climate action is not only a necessity but also contributes to economic growth. The report therefore proves that national climate action targets boost economic growth and presents convincing arguments against the thesis that climate action and a successful economy are in conflict.
Sirini Jeudy-Hugo used her keynote speech to provide some positive and motivating approaches for the followingA session and the networking part of the event.
Make contacts, exchange experiences, find synergies
A total of roughly 140 representatives from approx. 40 different organisations from the IKI community took the opportunity to participate in the networking evening in Bonn. The proven format offers a very good framework for maintaining contacts, meeting new people from the IKI and exchanging experiences.
We would like to thank all participants for the stimulating discussions, feedback and input!
Images from the IKI networking evening
The link has been copied to the clipboard
Contact
IKI Office
Zukunft – Umwelt – Gesellschaft (ZUG) gGmbH
Stresemannstraße 69-71
10963 Berlin
Background information
Bonn is the headquarters of the UN Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC), which organises the June Meetings (also: Bonn Climate Change Conference or SB meeting, session of the subsidiary bodies) every year. The meetings serve as mid-term negotiations in preparation for the World Climate Conference. This year's conference (SB62) brought together up to 9,000 participants from all over the world. These included representatives from governments, science, civil society and business. It is the largest UN conference to be held in Germany.
UNFCCC website
BMUKN press release (in German)
Funding priority
The IKI Strategy
The IKI aims to achieve maximum impact for the protection of the climate and biodiversity. To this end, it concentrates its funding activities on prioritised fields of action within the four funding areas. Another key element is close cooperation with selected partner countries, in particular with the IKI's priority countries.