Global Climate Efforts Stall as COP30 Approaches

Wed Oct 29 2025 10:04:09 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Only 64 nations have submitted updated climate action plans before the crucial COP30 summit, highlighting a significant shortfall in efforts to combat climate change.

As the COP30 climate summit nears, only 64 countries have submitted new carbon reduction pledges, falling short of the expectations set under the Paris Agreement. Despite some progress in emissions reductions, the collective efforts will not be enough to keep global temperatures from rising beyond the critical 1.5°C threshold. This raises concerns about the effectiveness of global climate initiatives as leaders prepare to gather in Belém, Brazil.

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.

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

Taken together, the efforts mean that global emissions of carbon dioxide should fall by around 10% by 2035.

However, scientists say that such a drop is nowhere near enough to keep the rise in temperatures under 1.5C.

To keep that goal alive will require steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, up to 57% by 2035, according to the UN last year.

This report shows that we are going in the right direction but too slowly, said Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation, often referred to as a key architect of the Paris Agreement.

It is essential to acknowledge the missing national pledges and confront the persistent gap between ambition and actual implementation.

The 1.5C limit, agreed at Paris, has long been seen as the threshold of very dangerous warming.

In 2018, scientists outlined the massive benefits of keeping the rise under 1.5C compared to allowing them to rise to 2C. Breaching this threshold could lead to more frequent and intense heatwaves, storms, increased damage to coral reefs, and growing threats to human health and livelihoods, warn UN scientists.

Despite this, the UN is keen to stress that there are significant green shoots providing hope for the future.

Many more countries are expected to lodge plans as their leaders gather for COP30 in Belém.

Large carbon producers such as India and Indonesia haven't unveiled their carbon plans yet. They will likely do so during COP30 and these may greatly impact overall projections for 2035.

The UN is confident that global emissions will likely peak and start to decline in the coming years, marking a historic moment since the industrial revolution.

One important factor is the planned US pledge submitted under President Biden.

While the prior administration's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement has not yet been finalized, the UN continues to include US plans in their overall calculations.

As delegates prepare for COP30, the global community faces a pivotal moment in addressing climate change and safeguarding the planet's future.