The following statement was delivered during Town Hall with the UNFCCC Executive Secretary and observers on June 16 2026 on behalf of the ENGO-DCJ constituency during the 64th meeting of the Subsidiary Bodies (SB64) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC):

My name is Rachitaa, and I’m making this intervention on behalf of Demand Climate Justice. 

Thank you for the opportunity to engage in this discussion with you today. As the climate crisis intensifies outside these halls, the urgency and equity with which progress is made within these halls must match the scale of the crisis. 

Unfortunately, by no measure is this the case. The integrity of the UNFCCC remains at stake, but more importantly so do hundreds of millions of lives and livelihoods. 

We’ve continued to witness the impacts of the Global North’s failure to do its fair share of climate action and pay its climate debt. And the fingerprints of the world’s largest polluting corporations are still all over the texts and negotiations. How many more years must we fail? 

We welcomed the Open Dialogue on transparency and inclusiveness, and appreciate the work invested into the dialogue, while acknowledging what has been said all along- this is one small step of many. We note that much was raised about conflicts of interest. Most Parties agreed it needed to be discussed further, even if the topic is complex. We call on the Secretariat to advance leadership on this issue and take additional steps to advance transparency and accountability now. Beginning with expanding the disclosure requirements and affirmation of alignment to all badge types, which there was no objection to in the room. We also look to you to further conversation with Parties, including the formal consultations that were suggested by some Parties. 

Big Polluters continue to hold the pen of climate action, all while space for equitable inclusion of civil society continues to shrink and the voices of those most impacted continue to be censored and excluded.

We would also like to share our concerns related to UNFCCC’s continued reliance on big technology corporations for its digital platform, given the role that such corporations have played in contributing to the climate crisis the world faces. 

On just transition, the priority now is operationalising the Just Transition Mechanism in a way that supports real transformation. The BAM must be people-powered. It must enable just and equitable finance, technology transfer, and capacity building. We insist The BAM must go beyond the energy transition and must be fully operational by 2027.

Finally, we understand that the COP30 presidency wrote to the secretariat advising that Article 9.1 should be on the agenda moving forward, and we strongly support this. The reality is that there is no climate action without climate finance, and no climate justice if the Global North is not paying their climate debt.