India Summons US Diplomat Over Tanker Strike Off Oman Coast; Three Indians Dead

The US military attacked three commercial vessels in the Gulf of Oman, resulting in the deaths of three Indian seafarers. The attacks represent the only documented instance in independent India's history where US armed forces have directly killed Indian citizens, the Wire reported.

HT reported that the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told India's external affairs minister S Jaishankar that 'ships violating the US blockade in Hormuz won't be tolerated'.

The MEA summoned the US Chargé d'Affaires twice. In its formal communication, the ministry told the US side that the attacks “have already resulted in the tragic and avoidable loss of three Indian lives.” It conveyed “its deep concern over the use of lethal and deadly force against civilian shipping. Such actions are unacceptable and undermine the safety, security and stability of international maritime commerce in a sensitive region at a difficult time.” Jaishankar spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on June 12. Rubio defended the strikes, stating that US forces “will continue to take all necessary measures to enforce maritime security and counter hostile threats in the region,” offering no regret for the deaths, no commitment to adjust rules and no assurance against future incidents.

Bonn Climate Conference: Developing Countries Fight For Inclusion of Climate Finance Work Programme in Draft Agenda of Next COP31 

The first week of the two-week mid-year climate talks in Bonn, known as SB64, came to an end.  The discussions on the Climate Finance Work Programme on Article 9 (established as part of the Mutirão decision in the “political package” released at COP30 in Belém, Brazil last year) developing countries wanted the programme to focus specifically on Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, which obliges developed countries to provide financial resources to developing countries. Developed countries opposed this in Belém, DTE reported, adding that the programme was expected to provide a dedicated space for discussing the implementation of the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance, agreed at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. 

The Group of 77 and China, representing more than 130 developing countries, expressed deep disappointment that the work programme had not been included in the draft agenda for Paris Agreement negotiations, or CMA8, scheduled to take place alongside COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, the report said. 

Discussions on the Baku-to-Belém Roadmap to $1.3 trillion (developed countries committed to providing $300 billion a year to developing countries, alongside an “aspirational target” of at least $1.3 trillion annually by 2035) also continued in Bonn.

Emphasis was also placed on the worrying trend of declining climate finance provision across the board, particularly within UNFCCC funds. Speakers referred to the lack of replenishment so far of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund.

The European Union stressed that implementation would require actors beyond the UNFCCC process, including investors, development banks and national governments. It focused on solutions such as carbon pricing as essential to operationalising the Roadmap, DTE report said.

At Bonn Conference, Scientists Warn 1.5°C Threshold Could Be Breached in Four Years

A new Indicators of Global Climate Change (IGCC) report released at Bonn Conference found that human activities have pushed warming to 1.37˚C in 2025, with global temperatures projected to surpass 1.5°C in about four years, CarbonCopy reported, adding that the report highlighted that global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are at an all-time high, reaching 56.8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (CO2e) in 2024, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels. 

Scientists said that one of the most alarming findings of the report was the rapid increase in the Earth’s Energy Imbalance (EEI) which is a measure of how much more energy the planet absorbs than it emits back into space. Without human influence, it should be close to zero, but it has more than doubled in recent decades, indicating that excess heat is accumulating across the oceans, land, and cryosphere at an accelerating pace.

Bonn Mid-year Talks: Tackling Climate Crisis is ‘Hardest’ Challenge Ever, Stiell Says

UN climate chief Simon Stiell said  at the opening of mid-year Bonn climate talks that tackling climate change is the “hardest, but most important, thing humanity has ever tried to do together”, Climate Home News reported adding: “Perhaps hoping to forestall the usual diplomatic wrangling that routinely bogs down the talks, he warned governments that there is no time to ‘re-open past debates or renegotiate commitments already made’.” 

Agence France-Presse reported that the incoming president of COP31, Australia’s climate and energy minister Chris Bowen, said that countries “need to get off fossil fuels”. 

According to an internal document seen by Reuters, EU negotiation priorities should be “shorter, sharper and more strategic” at COP31 in November, 

 Germany's €500bn Climate and Infrastructure Fund Spending Lagging Behind: Govt Report

Spending from Germany’s €500 billion “special fund for infrastructure and climate neutrality” has remained behind government targets, according to a new finance ministry report covered by Clean Energy Wire. The news outlet explained that the fund is supposed to make additional investments to improve Germany’s competitiveness and put the country on track towards its “net-zero by 2045” target. Reuters reported that last year the fund was meant to disburse €37.4 billion but instead spent only €24 billion. Bloomberg noted that the transport ministry is “among the agencies under pressure to pick up the pace”. According to the Financial Times, the German government now plans to penalise ministries that are “slow to tap their share” of the fund.

China Steps Up Enforcement of Critical Mineral Export Controls

China penalised at least 11 companies this year for “illegally exporting restricted rare earths and critical minerals”, including a “subsidiary of solar panel maker” JA Solar, reports financial news outlet Caixin. Beijing’s move to “tightly track the global end-users of its critical materials” raises “compliance stakes for international high-tech and green-energy supply chains”,

Reuters reported that China issued new rules “tightening control of overseas deals that involve Chinese investors, technology, data and national security”. Under the new rules, investors shall not transfer goods and technologies that are prohibited from export.

State news agency Xinhua reported that China’s international trade-promotion body voiced its “firm opposition” to the EU’s Cybersecurity Act, saying that Chinese companies are “important partners” for Europe in “green transition” and “industrial upgrading”.

EU and Chinese Trade Chiefs Meet to Defuse Heightened Tensions

According to  Bloomberg, EU trade chief Maros Šefčovič met China’s international trade envoy, Li Chenggang, in Paris yesterday, where they discussed “matters including rebalancing the bilateral trade and investment relationship”. The two met on the sidelines of an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ministerial, ahead of an EU debate over “new restrictive measures to rebalance the economic relationship”,  An OECD report recently stated that Chinese companies receive the largest government subsidies globally, to which the Chinese government responded urging the organisation to avoid “politicising” research, reported China Daily.