National Climate Plans Fall Short of Capacity to Limit Global Warming

• The United Nations warns that current national climate plans are inadequate to limit catastrophic global warming.
• The “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) submitted by countries to the UN are sufficient to cut global emissions by 2.6% from 2019 to 2030, up from 2% last year.
• However, these plans are not sufficient to achieve the 43% cut required to meet the Paris Agreement target to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• As part of their Paris obligations, nations must deliver new and stronger NDCs before a deadline in February next year.
• The success of COP29 climate talks could influence nations to set and implement more ambitious pledges.
• The UN’s weather monitoring body reports that greenhouse gases have been accumulating in the atmosphere “faster than any time experienced during human existence” over the last two decades.
• Rising temperatures are driving dangerous “feedbacks” that will further increase atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations