As Cyclone Biparjoy approached southern Pakistan this week, top Pakistani negotiator Nabeel Munir told governments at midyear U.N. climate talks in Bonn that it felt like he was "conducting a primary school class," amid squabbling over the meeting agenda.
The evening before the two-week negotiations were due to end in the German city on Thursday, a compromise was found, avoiding a diplomatic embarrassment ahead of December's key COP28 summit in Dubai.
But the Bonn outcome did not resolve the stark differences between rich nations that want to focus on a formal work program to boost emissions reductions — and some developing countries that are demanding they also address a lack of international finance to help them shift to clean energy.