Opening Remarks by H.E. Ambassador Adão Soares Barbosa

Chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group

Press Conference – SB64 Climate Change Conference, Bonn

12 June 2026, 10:00 am – 10:30 am

Good morning and thank you all for joining us today.

This press conference is organized by Least Developed Countries. 

My name is Adão Soares Barbosa, Special Envoy and Ambassador-at-Large for Climate Affairs from Timor-Leste and Chair of the LDC Group.

The LDC Group includes 44 countries that are on the frontline of the climate crisis, but are leading climate action from the front. As we approach the halfway mark of SB64 here in Bonn, we would like to share our priorities and reflections with you.

Climate change is not a future threat for LDCs, it defines our present. Despite contributing the least to emissions, LDCs shoulder a disproportionate share of the consequences. While political attention shifts, communities are confronting escalating impacts which are eroding hard-earned development gains, breaching adaptation limits, and leading to loss and damage. In parallel, growing debt burdens and shrinking fiscal space are further threatening our economies.

The science is clear on where we are headed. LDCs are deeply concerned by the inadequacy of global mitigation efforts. We are now heading to a world where some level of overshoot of 1.5°C is unavoidable. For LDCs, 1.5°C is a lifeline. Even at current levels of warming, our countries are facing unimaginable losses. We must step up. 

SB64 follows the historic endorsement by the UNGA of the ICJ Advisory Opinion, which confirms that the 1.5°C limit remains the Parties’ agreed primary temperature goal under the Paris Agreement. We welcome this development and urge all Parties to align their actions accordingly.

Alongside our calls for a stronger global response, LDCs are also demonstrating leadership in implementing the Paris Agreement. 23 LDCs have submitted NDCs 3.0 with many in preparation, while 27 have prepared NAPs and 15 have submitted BTRs. We are investing political effort, technical expertise, and limited national resources into climate action but we cannot do it alone.

Our message in Bonn is clear: the international community must move beyond pledges to action and delivery. Multilateralism must rise to the challenge; ensuring the highest possible global ambition and delivering meaningful support on adaptation, and delivery of climate finance commitments.

Let me begin with adaptation.

For LDCs, adaptation is not an option—it is a necessity.

The outcomes achieved in Belém last year, particularly on the Global Goal on Adaptation, marked an important step forward. We now have a framework and a set of indicators that can help the world better understand adaptation progress and needs. Our priority at SB64 is to build on that momentum. We should focus on improving and operationalizing the indicators that have already been agreed, rather than renegotiating them. The world needs to move from debating adaptation to delivering adaptation.

We also want to see meaningful progress under the Belém–Addis Vision and the Baku Adaptation Roadmap. These processes must help countries strengthen resilience on the ground and provide a clear pathway toward implementation. Adaptation cannot succeed without adequate means of implementation. 

Agriculture is a particularly urgent concern for our countries as well. Building climate-resilient food systems is not only an adaptation priority; it is a development and survival priority.

Turning to mitigation, the progress this week has been disappointing for us.

On the contrary, it underscores the urgent need for accelerated global action to rapidly reduce emissions, limit the magnitude and duration of any overshoot, and keep the possibility of returning to 1.5°C within reach.

The LDC Group expects the Mitigation Work Programme to contribute meaningfully to accelerating action and implementation. It should help identify practical solutions, support the implementation of the first Global Stocktake outcomes, and facilitate access to finance, technology, and capacity-building for developing countries pursuing low-carbon development pathways.

The implementation of the first Global Stocktake outcome remains of utmost importance, and heading into the technical phase of the second GST, the LDCs believe it is essential that the IPCC AR7 reports  are  available in time to serve as inputs to GST2. 

Finally, let me turn to climate finance.

Climate finance remains one of the most critical issues for LDCs. We must see enhanced delivery of commitments.

We recognize the challenging global economic and political environment. However, these challenges cannot become a reason to delay, reduce, or retreat from climate finance commitments. The implementation of the New Collective Quantified Goal must deliver meaningful progress toward the agreed objective of mobilizing at least 300 billion US dollars annually by 2035. This is essential for building resilience, accelerating mitigation action, and addressing the growing impacts of loss and damage.

We also emphasize the importance of ensuring continued access to key funding mechanisms, including the Adaptation Fund, and strengthening the connection between climate finance and technology transfer. 

Finally,

The LDCs have been engaging constructively with all Parties. We believe that cooperation, solidarity, and multilateralism remain our strongest tools for addressing the climate crisis.

The world has already agreed on many of the solutions. What is needed now is the political will to implement them. 

For LDCs, the stakes could not be higher. We must not forget the significance of our work here. The progress here in Bonn will directly impact the future resilience and survival of millions around the world.