This document is designed specifically for young people by young people, to accompany the broader report Loss and damage: Challenges and opportunities for city leadership. By engaging with this report, young people will gain a critical understanding of how to engage with policies and practices to address loss and damage in partnership with cities and mayors in an urban setting.

The following is a transcript of UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell's opening remarks at the June UN Climate Meetings (60th Subsidiary Bodies) on 3 June 2024. The speech is also available in French (Français), Russian (Русский) and Spanish (Español) and can be viewed on YouTube. Read our media advisory for more information about the two-week conference.

The report concludes that in order to eradicate poverty and achieve the SDGs, policy approaches aimed at revitalizing sustainable economic growth and reversing geoeconomic fragmentation “need to be adaptable to rapidly changing labor markets” and their increased digitalization.

The joint opening plenary of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) had to be suspended twice, but overall the launch of the Bonn Climate Change Conference was fairly smooth. Parties adopted the provisional agendas and launched negotiations, including on the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA).