WFO Scientific Council Coordinator Macaulay Jones shares key takeaways from representing the UNFCCC Farmers Constituency at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue (PCD), held in Berlin on 25–26 March

Last week, I had the privilege of attending the Petersberg Climate Dialogue (PCD) on behalf of the UNFCCC Farmers Constituency and the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO). The PCD, established in 2010 by Germany after the disappointing outcomes of COP15 at Copenhagen, serves as a critical preparatory platform that builds high-level political momentum for the annual United Nations Climate Change Conferences. Held yearly, the PCD brings climate ministers and representatives together to discuss strategies and build consensus on global climate action. The 16th edition, which occurred on March 25-26, 2025, in Berlin, Germany focused on setting the stage for COP30 in Belém, Brazil, in November 2025.

Co-hosted by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and COP President-Designate André Corrêa do Lago, the 2025 PCD involved ministers and senior civil servants from about 40 countries along with representatives from eight of the UNFCCC Observer Constituencies, including me as representative for the Farmers

While the PCD is focused on climate change, discussions often take on a political dimension and become an opportunity to raise wider geopolitical issues. As a Berlin-based member of the WFO, which also serves as the Secretariat for the Farmers’ Constituency, I also had an opportunity to attend the PCD in 2023, when the conflict between Russia and Ukraine was a key topic of concern. This year, most speakers expressed disappointment at the decision by the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and all firmly expressed support for multilateralism as not only an essential tool for climate action but as a critical means of bringing countries closer together to tackle a range of wicked problems.

As the world’s largest economy, the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and the largest source of development and climate finance, the US was the elephant not in the room. When I last attended the PCD two years ago, John Kerry represented the US as the United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and was a staunch progressive voice for multilateralism and decisive climate action. This year, the US was not in attendance, and countries expressed their disappointment at the US’s wider retreat from multilateralism with varying degrees of diplomatic subtlety.

The 2025 PCD was, however, much more than just a vehicle for lamenting a decline in the amount of US political and financial support for the Paris Agreement, with key agenda items including how to implement the results of the ‘Global StockTake’, ‘the importance of countries updating their Nationally Determined Contributions by September 2025 and what can be done to increase climate financial flows and to achieve the “Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3 T“.

The Roadmap was launched last year at COP29 in Baku as part of the final decision on a New Collective Quantified Goal for Climate Finance and aims to scale up climate finance to developing countries to at least USD 1.3 trillion annually by 2035, complementing the USD 300 billion base agreed by developed countries with an additional USD 1 trillion from a wider range of sources. The Farmers Constituency, benefiting from a diversity of inputs coordinated by the WFO, has recently submitted its views and expectations on this Roadmap, and in our submission, we emphasised the importance of ensuring that climate finance is effectively mobilised and delivered in ways that support all farmers—particularly in developing countries and those countries with the most vulnerable contexts—in adapting to and recovering from the impact of climate change, while also supporting broader mitigation efforts.

A highlight of this year’s PCD was the presentation by Mr. Mathias Cormann, Secretary General of the OECD, on the OECD-UNDP report, “Investing in Climate for Growth and Development – The Case for Enhanced NDCs,” released during the dialogue. This report argues that ambitious climate policies could yield a net gain of 0.23% to global GDP by 2040, rising further by 2050. It projects a 60% increase in GDP per capita for advanced economies and a 124% rise for lower-income countries by mid-century, with 175 million people potentially lifted out of poverty by 2030 through emissions reduction investments. This unexpected economic perspective highlighted climate action as a possible growth opportunity rather than a cost, particularly relevant for developing nations. Maximising climate action that comes with social, economic, and environmental benefits is particularly important for farmers, given governments’ and supply chain actors’ increasingly conflicting policy signals. If the assumptions in the OECD-UNDP report prove true, climate action by farmers will be good for both the goals of the Paris Agreement and farmers’ bottom lines.

The above photo was taken after a joint meeting held between the eight UNFCCC observer constituencies at the PCD (including Farmers), the COP 29 Presidency and the incoming COP 30 Presidency. This meeting was an opportunity for me to voice the eagerness of the UNFCCC Farmers Constituency, in all its diversity, to work with the COP Presidencies to unlock agricultural climate solutions. The meeting reflects the important role WFO plays in supporting its member organisations and all farmers globally.