NDC updates: 82 Parties have submitted updated NDCs, with 75 enhancing ambition

When the Paris Agreement came into force, almost every nation made a written commitment to tackling climate change in the form of a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and agreed to enhance ambition over time. Parties were meant to submit updated NDCs by the end of 2020, but due to the pandemic this deadline was softened.

To date, 82 Parties have submitted their second NDC, with 75 enhancing ambition. 99 Parties have not yet revised their previous commitments.

Of all the NDCs submitted (whether first or second draft), 151 include adaptation and 45 exclude it; just 43 Parties have strengthened their adaptation component. 98 Parties cover greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors including land use, land use change and forestry; 66 Parties have strengthened the greenhouse gas mitigation component of their NDC.

A UN report synthesising the combined impact of the 48 revised NDCs (representing 75 Parties) submitted by the end of 2020 found that the level of ambition had increased only slightly; combined emissions cuts from the new pledges were only 3% lower by 2030 than from the NDCs put forward in 2015. It’s estimated that a 45% cut in global emissions compared to 2010 levels is needed by 2030, in order to limit warming to 1.5°C; even with the new NDCs in place, emissions would be just 0.5% lower in 2030 compared to 2010.

Explore more details of the submitted NDCs through Climate Watch, and for a summary for the UN analysis read Carbon Brief’s article. For guidance on how to enhance climate ambition and action through inclusion of NbS in NDCs, see this policy brief and Seddon et al. 2020.