John Kerry, the US envoy on climate change, has warned that the conflict in Ukraine must not be used as an excuse to continue the world's reliance on coal.
Mr Kerry, speaking to the BBC, chastised a number of wealthy countries for failing to follow through on pledges made at the COP26 climate meeting.
Climate ambassadors are meeting in Bonn today amid increased concerns about energy security.
Mr Kerry stated that if countries increase their reliance on coal in reaction to the conflict, "we are cooked."
As countries struggle with the impact from Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the cost of living crises, the fragile unity demonstrated in Glasgow in November is set to be put to the test in Bonn.
Despite these flaws, Mr Kerry told the BBC that "as a global we are still not moving quickly enough" to reduce warming gas emissions that are pushing rising temperatures.
"We still have a chance to win this struggle," the former senator stated, but it will need a "massive increase in effort from governments all around the world."
A top Ukrainian scientist supported Mr Kerry's request, urging delegates to accelerate their transition away from fossil fuels.
Oil and gas, according to Dr. Svitana Krakovska, are "enablers of conflict."
The Bonn summit, which starts today and runs until the end of next week, is substantially smaller than COP26 and is mostly a technical discussion.
It falls in the middle of the huge conferences in Glasgow and COP27, which will be held in Egypt.
The negotiations, which will be led by civil workers with no political participation, will assess progress on a number of topics agreed upon in the Glasgow Climate Pact.
To put it bluntly, not much.
According to a BBC investigation, practically little progress has been made on a variety of topics.
The world emerged from Glasgow in the midst of an energy crisis brought by by a sharp increase in gas prices. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as ongoing challenges in global supply lines, have greatly exacerbated the situation.
Prices for fossil fuels have risen considerably as governments become concerned about supply security. Governments have also taken longer than expected to submit new carbon-cutting plans, despite promises to do so by September. Some extremely important nations, such as India and Egypt, the hosts of COP27, are among the laggards.
Despite this, there is a widespread view that political leaders still see climate change as a serious concern, particularly in light of recent extreme heatwaves in India and Pakistan, which have been related to human usage of fossil fuels.
If it is true, the debates in the old West German capital will reveal it.
"I believe the Bonn meetings will be a true test of whether political intent is more than rhetoric," said Alex Scott of the E3G environmental research group.
"Or whether there are actual promises to make the policy and budget reforms that are required to solve these concerns."
Normally, Ukraine and Russia send delegations to this summit, but it is unclear if both nations will attend.
Dr. Svitlana Krakovska, who headed the Ukrainian team at the recent IPCC report approval meetings, thinks climate change isn't a pressing concern right now.