https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/goal-one-why-we-need-ambitious-climate-action-plans
Excerpt: SO, HOW ARE WE LOOKING?
In a nutshell, not great.
As of late September and after a few deadlines have come and gone, only 60-something countries that together account for roughly half of global emissions had submitted new NDCs to the UN.
With the US effectively out of the Paris Agreement picture, the big story was China, which committed to cut economy-wide emissions by 7–10% by 2035. The remarkably unambitious pledge by the planet’s largest polluter left many disappointed, but the nation’s history of under-promising and overdelivering in this area coupled with the lightspeed electrification happening throughout its economy offer some reason for hope.
Outside of China, only one leading economy has come forward with an adequately rated NDC target – the United Kingdom – and it’s unclear whether its policy landscape matches its ambition. Many other submissions from major emitters and major fossil fuel exporters fall short.
With the expectation that even when all NDCs come through, the commitments won’t be anywhere near enough to meet Paris targets, the question now is, what now?
RAISING THE BAR AT COP 30
The two-week pressure cooker that will be COP 30 is a chance to raise the bar and raise ambitions for real climate actions worldwide. We cannot let it slip away.
There is precedent here. Previous COPs have called on nations to strengthen their NDCs, even in years when they weren’t due.
Sensing the urgency of the moment, some countries have already come forward with that request for COP 30 – on top of requesting an annual space to review and amend progress. No such mandate exists within the Paris Agreement. But existential threats require flexibility. Plus, in a world where clean energy is increasingly the cheapest form of new electricity and increasingly available worldwide, countries can afford to act quickly and slash emissions faster and more deeply than any time in history.
Seizing the moment and using COP 30 to push for stronger NDCs or early and overachievement of current NDCs will require strong diplomacy from Brazil, the COP 30 president. There’s no NDC-focused workstream currently on the COP 30 agenda, but there are other ways to get there. Most notably, negotiating a separate set of commitments and political signals known as a “cover decision”.
