National climate plans need urgent upgrade: UN climate body

Countries need to urgently and dramatically revamp their national climate plans to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change said in a report published Oct. 28.

Under the current national determined contributions (NDCs), greenhouse gas emissions would fall by only 2.6% or around 51.5 gigatons of CO2 equivalent in 2030 compared to 2019 levels, according to the UN body’s 2024 NDC Synthesis Report.

But the greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut 43% by 2030, compared to 2019 levels to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and avert the worst effects of climate change.

Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UNFCCC, said current national climate plans fall “miles” short of what’s needed and called for ambitious new emissions targets, that are credible, backed up by substantive regulations, laws, and funding to ensure goals are met and plans implemented. 

“The next round of national climate plans must deliver a dramatic step up in climate action and ambition,” said Stiell.

Countries are due to refresh their climate commitments under the Paris Agreement next year.

“New NDCs should also detail adaptation priorities and investments to protect critical sectors, infrastructure and people from climate impacts, and support and align with National Adaptation Plan processes. They should have a time horizon to 2035, with much stronger 2030 targets to drive the deep emissions cuts needed globally this decade,” added Stiell.

Finance focus at COP29

This report comes a few weeks before world leaders will gather in Baku, Azerbaijan from Nov. 11-22 for for the UN Climate Change Conference, known as COP29.

Global leaders are under pressure to build a new global climate finance framework, known as the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance at COP29 in Baku.

Analysts at S&P Global Commodity Insights said the stark divisions between developed and developing countries regarding the scope and structure of the NCQG underscore the complexity of reaching a consensus.

“Adding to the uncertainty is the timing of the US elections, set for less than a week before COP29, which could influence the role and the direction of the US delegation during the negotiations,” they added in a recent note. “These unresolved issues will require careful negotiations and a political willingness to compromise if meaningful progress is to be made.”

In another recent report, the UN said that failure to strengthen and start delivering immediately upon commitments made under the Paris Agreement on climate change will put the world on track for a global temperature increase of between 2.6 and 3.1 degrees Celsius by the end of the century,

A similar stance was taken by the International Energy Agency, which said that the next round of NDCs presents an unmissable opportunity, to meet the ambitious target of tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030.

“These new national climate plans will collectively form the backbone of international climate progress and cooperation for the next decade and beyond,” the IEA said in a report. “While every country will have its own pathway to achieve its energy and climate goals, all can – and should – determine how they can help turn the COP28 outcomes into reality.”