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More than 170 countries, including India, have yet to submit their updated climate targets under the Paris Agreement, according to International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).
Countries prepare national climate action plans under the Paris Agreement, called the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). These aim to limit global temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C above pre-industrial level.
Parties to the Paris Agreement had to submit their updated NDCs for 2035 by February 10, 2025. Only 15 of the 195 parties met the deadline. By May, the number of countries submitting updates NDCs reached 21. These included Zambia, Cuba, Maldives, Montenegro, Japan, Canada, Marshall Islands, Singapore, Zimbabwe, Ecuador, Saint Lucia, Andorra, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Uruguay, the United States of America, Brazil, Kenya, Moldova and the United Arab Emirates. The US announced its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement after President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this year.
Only six months remain before delegates meet in Brazil for the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP30). “We really need to see countries submit updated climate targets. These targets demonstrate whether or not world leaders are serious about dealing with the challenge of climate change, which is already wreaking havoc across the globe,” Camilla More, IIED climate diplomacy researcher, said in a statement.
Climate Action Tracker, an independent science-based assessment that tracks the emission commitments and actions of countries, looked at 20 countries that have submitted their NDCs. Of them, it analysed 10. The analysis showed that only the UK’s NDC was 1.5°C compatible.
Neil Grant, senior climate and energy analyst at Climate Analytics, previously told Down To Earth that while the country’s headline number is ambitious, it does not represent the UK's fair share. Climate Action Tracker recommended that the UK should therefore increase the climate finance it provides for developing countries to support climate mitigation and adaptation. “Further, they have not updated their previous NDCs for 2030, which is outside the 1.5 compatible range,” Grant added.
The UK also plans to invest almost £22 billion in carbon capture and storage. Mark Maslin, Professor of Natural Sciences, UCL, wrote in The Conversation that this dependence on the technology will lock the UK into fossil fuel dependence past 2050 — the year it plans to reach Net-Zero. “Every year, the cost of the climate crisis continues to climb. We need to see bold and ambitious action to cut emissions and to support communities adapt to the new reality and address the inevitable impacts. We can’t afford to let short-term populism act as a handbrake on climate action,” More explained.