Global Efforts to Combat Climate Change Falter as COP30 Approaches

Wed Oct 29 2025 23:05:49 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

With the COP30 climate summit on the horizon, only 64 countries have submitted new carbon-cutting plans, leaving the world far from meeting critical climate goals.

As world leaders prepare for the COP30 summit in Belém, Brazil, a concerning report indicates that only 64 nations have presented new climate pledges. Together, these pledges fall short of curbing global temperature rise to below 1.5°C, a key threshold for avoiding severe climate impacts. Despite some progress projected in reducing emissions over the next decade, experts warn that much more aggressive actions are essential to meet international climate targets.

Global Efforts to Combat Climate Change Falter as COP30 Approaches

Matt McGrath, Environment Correspondent

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.

However, scientists say that the terms of these pledges signify a significant gap between what is needed to effectively address climate change and current global actions. The UN has stated that to keep temperature rises below 1.5C, a reduction in emissions of up to 57% by 2035 is crucial, yet the current pledges aim for only a 10% decrease.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted the inevitability of exceeding the 1.5C threshold, calling for renewed commitment and action from global leaders to prevent even worse climate outcomes. As countries prepare for COP30, it remains to be seen whether they will step up their commitments and fill the current gap in climate action.