Global Climate Pledges Fall Short Ahead of COP30 Summit

Wed Oct 29 2025 23:53:45 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

As the COP30 climate summit approaches, only 64 countries have submitted new carbon cutting plans, falling short of the necessary commitments to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

With COP30 set to commence in Belém, Brazil, only a minority of nations have met their obligations under the Paris Agreement, as only 64 out of the required participants submitted new plans to tackle carbon emissions. This lack of compliance raises concerns regarding the goal of limiting global temperature rise and highlights the urgent need for stronger climate action moving forward.

Only 64 countries have submitted new plans to cut carbon, the UN says, despite all being required to do so ahead of next month's COP30 summit.

Added together, these national pledges would fail to keep the world from warming by more than 1.5C, a key threshold to very dangerous levels of climate change.

While the UN review does show progress in curbing carbon emissions over the next decade, the projected fall is not enough to stop temperatures surging past this global target.

The report underlines the scale of the task facing world leaders who head to Belém in northern Brazil next week for the COP30 climate gathering.

Ten years after the Paris climate pact was agreed in 2015, the efforts of countries to restrict the rise in global temperatures are under renewed scrutiny.

Every signatory agreed to submit a new carbon-cutting plan every five years, which would cover the next decade.

But only 64 countries managed to put a new pledge in place this year, despite many extensions of the deadline. These represent around 30% of global emissions.

Additionally, the UN's review includes statements from China and the EU on their future plans made at Climate Week in New York in September.

These efforts suggest that global emissions of carbon dioxide should fall by around 10% by 2035, but scientists argue this is insufficient to limit heating to 1.5C as required.

To maintain that goal, emissions must be reduced by up to 57% by 2035, according to the UN.

This report shows that we are going in the right direction but too slowly, said Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres mentioned that due to current trends, breaching 1.5C is now seen as inevitable, emphasizing that immediate and significant action is critical.

As leaders gather for COP30, there are expectations of new commitments from larger carbon-emitting nations, including India and Indonesia, which could alter the overall climate change trajectory.