Bonn Climate Camp (BCC) is an independent team of local and international volunteers from many different countries
Our team members bring diverse experiences from climate justice movements and come from various areas of climate advocacy and activism. We all share a vision of a just world. BCC started the first edition in 2024 and we are still continuing the progress of organizing and mobilizing for a just world!
The Bonn Climate Camp (BCC) is organized by international activists to support civil society during the UN Climate Conference (SBI) in Bonn. BCC aims to create political pressure on decision-makers, offer a safe space for international Civil Society, and provide resources for their work. BCC is made up of various working groups focusing on programming, logistics, and awareness. Rather than replacing existing efforts, BCC complements them by filling in the gaps to enhance the experience and impact of civil society at the conference.
Origin Story
Activists, especially young ones, face significant challenges in engaging with multilateral policy processes like the UN Climate Conferences (Subsidiary Bodies for Implementation, SBs). The Bonn Climate Change Conference, which sets the agenda for the annual COPs, is a crucial milestone where political pressure can heavily influence outcomes. To ensure a meaningful impact, we need a strong, diverse, and grounded climate justice movement that explicitly includes international activists directly affected by the climate crisis. However, as civil society space within the UN continues to shrink, international CSOs and activists find it increasingly difficult to participate. In response, we created the Bonn Climate Camp—a welcoming and supportive space for civil society attending the SBs—to mobilise efforts, build collective power, and apply the political pressure needed for urgent climate action.
Since 1997, climate conferences have been held in Bonn, but for decades, young and international activists lacked the logistical support to fully participate. To address this, activists launched the BedExchange platform in 2022, connecting international participants with local hosts to ease accommodation barriers. In 2023, this was expanded with visa tips to tackle systemic challenges in traveling to Germany. In 2024, the first Bonn Climate Camp was realized as a physical space for action, care, and collaboration. These initiatives lay the groundwork for a lasting support system that empowers activist participation in the Bonn Climate Change Conferences.
Our values
The camp stands for climate justice in all dimensions, including feminism, decolonization, and anti-imperialism. It is primarily a space for support, networking, and strategizing. Actions will not be held at or organized by the camp, we recommend that actions be held inside/in front of the World Conference Center or at other strategic locations. We will have no external media at the camp or speak publicly on behalf of it. These measures are set to ensure the safety and security of the camp as a space to strategize, organize, brainstorm, and network internally, as well as to mitigate risks of police violence and public hate speech at the camp where plenty of international activists will be gathering. The camp is encouraged to be a space to plan and prepare for actions, as well as to build deeper connections and collectively strengthen our sense of international solidarity and climate justice. We stand in solidarity with everyone who fights for human rights and against oppression from West Papua to Sudan, from Congo to Afghanistan, from Palestine to the Uyghurs, and all occupied or militarized territories. We are united for decolonial climate justice, centering the leadership and resistance of those most marginalized and facing the most oppression in all aspects.
This means we condemn the ongoing genocide in Palestine and are calling for an immediate ceasefire and especially demand Germany stop supporting the government of Israel. Supporting war crimes and sending weapons to Israel does not combat antisemitism. In parallel, we must continue to work towards fighting discrimination and racism of any kind, antisemitism and Islamophobia, and all other dimensions!
We do not tolerate any form of racism, islamophobia, antisemitism, ableism, sexism, classism or discrimination towards the LGBTQIA+ community and any other marginalized group. We acknowledge that none of us are free of internalized forms of discrimination and establish an accountability culture inside the team. We invite people to come together and learn from each other, we invite especially white and privileged activists to listen and build bridges.
To secure the safety of all our participants, we will have guidelines at the camp on how to handle critical situations with the police. Please do not talk to the police but to the assembly leaders. Together, let’s ensure this space feels safe for all those fighting for social and climate justice to come together, connect, rest, organize, and strategize. For the camp: Please ask the camp organizers if you notice any safety issues.