Acceleration plan to close gaps in NDC

Acceleration plan to close gaps in NDC | Daily Tribune

Since the Paris Agreement was adopted 10 years ago, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) have been a barometer of countries’ climate ambitions.

The latest NDCs represent some progress. But we must be honest in the Summit of truth. The plans and policies on the table are still far from enough.

Science tells us it is still possible to keep temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Yet, a temporary overshoot above 1.5 degrees, starting, at the latest, in the early 2030s, is now inevitable.

But we can manage the scale and duration of that overshoot and bring temperatures back down — if we take serious action now. Action requires deep emissions cuts — 60 percent by 2035 to stay on track to meeting 1.5.

The new NDCs deliver just a 10 percent reduction. We need an acceleration plan to close the gaps in NDC ambition and implementation. And that acceleration must start here in Belém.

First — closing the gap means all countries submitting their new NDCs, without delay.

Second — closing the gap means creating the enabling conditions for countries to meet and exceed their commitments.

NDCs must become a springboard for greater action. This means ensuring developing countries have access to the tools and technologies they need to transition to sustainable, just economies. And it means trade policies that support climate action, with developing countries building their own links to supply chains and channeling the economic benefits to their people.

Third — closing the gap means bringing all sectors together to seize the renewables revolution:

By building modern grids and large-scale storage;

Scaling up energy efficiency;

Transitioning away from fossil fuels;

Reducing methane emissions;

And slashing deforestation.

Throughout, the United Nations will play its part.

Just as the Climate Promise supported over 100 developing countries in preparing their new NDCs, I have asked UNDP to present a plan to support countries in implementing them.

And fourth — we must close the financing gap for both mitigation and adaptation.

To keep the 1.5 degrees limit alive — and deliver universal energy access — annual clean energy investment in developing countries outside of China must rise more than fivefold by 2030. Developing countries can’t get there alone. The $300 billion promised to developing countries by 2035 must be fully mobilized.

The Baku to Belém Roadmap to $1.3 trillion by 2035 must restore confidence that climate finance will flow predictably, fairly, and at scale. Multilateral development banks, as (Brazil) President Lula (da Silva) said, must be made bigger, bolder, and better able to leverage far greater private investment at affordable cost.

Innovative forms of finance must be developed, including debt for climate swaps, risk sharing mechanisms and bold instruments like the Tropical Forest Forever Fund, not forgetting the contribution of carbon markets.

And we must keep pressing forward on reforms of the global financial architecture, so it reflects today’s world and serves the needs of developing countries.

At COP30, let’s renew the great promise the world made a decade ago in Paris — by kickstarting a new decade of implementation and acceleration.

Let’s go further and faster — together.

(Excerpts of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the Belém Climate Summit — “10 years of the Paris Agreement: NDCs and financing” — in Belém Brazil on 7 November 2025.)