“Low plans mean a dark future”: most countries are missing the deadline to subject new national climatic plans

The deadline for countries to submit their latest national climatic plans have passed and most of the major polluters have missed the brand.

Only 11 of the 195 parties who registered in the Paris Agreement submitted theirs in time.

As part of a process created by the Paris Agreement, these plans, known as the contributions or NDC determined nationally, were due before February 10. 187 The nations have not yet given theirs, including the main polluters as IndiaAustralia and the EU that submits for the whole block.

Just a handful, like the United Kingdom and Brazil, managed to advance its NDC before the deadline.

Now the UN has said that countries should take “a little more time” to ensure that these plans are “first -rate”. According to climate chief Simon Siell, the real deadline is in September when the plans are counted before COP30.

What happens if countries do not submit their NDC in time?

Signed in 2015, The Paris Agreement Requires that countries offer increasingly ambitious NDCs every five years. This deadline took place on February 10 at 11:59 p.m. in Germany, where the United Nations climate office.

However, there is no penalty to submit beyond the deadline.

In a speech at the Instituto Rio Branco in Brazil this week, Stiell said that the quality, not the speed, of these “crucial” plans should be at the center of things.

“Because these national plans are among the most important political documents that governments will produce this century, their quality should be essential,” he said.

Stiell added that a large majority of countries had indicated that they would submit their new NDC this year, many taking the process “very seriously”.

“So, take a little more time to make sure that these plans are of the first order, which correctly indicates how they will contribute to this effort and therefore what awards they will harvest.”

Stiell said the UN must have them on his desk by September at the latest to include them in the NDC summary report which should be published before the COP30 Climate Conferences in November. This year, the Brazilian management said that national plans will be a priority at the United Nations climate conference.

“While most nations will not deliver their plans this month, it is better to make solid commitments later this year that the weakest and weakest now,” explains David Waskow, International Climate Director for the World Resources Institute.

“Above all, new climatic national commitments should be judged by the speed with which they have reduced emissions and better protect people from increasingly serious climatic impacts.”

Why have no more countries submitted their national climatic plans?

Until now, only a dozen of the 195 countries have signed the Paris Agreement have been intended to reduce emissions by 2035.

These new NDC covers around 16% of global emissions. Almost all of this comes from the United States which submitted its plan before the inauguration of President Donald Trump who has since started the process of withdrawing the country from the Paris Agreement.

The only other major transmitters to subject their NDC are Brazil, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.

New Zealand, Switzerland, Uruguay, Andorra, Ecuador, the Marshall and Saint Lucia islands have also obtained their plans in time. Together, they only produce 0.2% of world emissions.

There are several reasons why other nations have missed the deadline.

“The last Tour of NDCS was delayed by a year due to the cocovio pandemic, so the countries have only had four years since finding new plans,” said Waskow. During this round, due in February 2020, only 48 countries had submitted by the end of the year, most of the others caught up by COP26 in 2021.

“Smaller Development nations Also consider constraints of capacity because they had to finish their reports of progression of the biennial climate and are also supposed to include new national adaptation plans this year. »»

Waskow adds that countries should submit their plans before the United Nations General Assembly in September at the latest so that the world can precisely assess where we are in front of COP30 in Brazil.

“Managers should not process this process as an exercise in checking the boxes. Low plans mean a dark, clear and simple future. 2025 is the year to intensify. “”