By Maheen Khan and Shirley Matheson As countries prepare to submit their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in 2025, they face a critical opportunity to enhance their climate ambitions. While NDCs include mitigation efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they also serve as a powerful communication tool for strengthening resilience and adaptation to climate change. The inclusion of a strong adaptation component in NDCs is particularly crucial for developing countries. As climate change impacts intensify due to rising emissions and global temperature increase, these nations are faci ..read more

We are in the midst of a triple environmental crisis. Climate change is driving nature loss and that, without healthy natural systems, we will struggle to halt climate change. Both climate and nature loss, in turn, drive desertification. The science is clear: our climate, nature and desertification challenges are closely intertwined, and numerous synergies exist where we can address them together. We also need to recognize that we are not on track to achieve climate goals and that we have very short time to achieve the 2030 Global Biodiversity Framework. But we are not acting on this knowledge ..read more

The deadline for countries to update their plans to cut climate pollution to keep global warming below 1.5°C as part of their commitment to the Paris Agreement is approaching. These updated plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs, need to show how countries will wind down production and emissions of coal, oil and gas. Time to turn off the fossil fuels taps Scientists agree, per the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, that emissions continue to rise with the largest share and growth coming from carbon pollution from fossil fuel extraction and combustion yet public and private fina ..read more

As leaders convene for SB60 in Bonn this June, extreme climate events are occurring all over the world; from the devastating floods in the south of Brazil, boiling temperatures in India, and even in Bonn it could be felt due to the trains disruptions caused by floods all over southern Germany. Meanwhile emissions from fossil fuels are continuing to soar, and new areas for oil and gas exploration are being opened. With the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) new report warning us that the world is off track to honor the pledges and commitments made at last year's COP28 in Dubai, WWF is calling ..read more

The masthead picture of WWF’s updated NDCsWeWant website, shows a herd of African elephants on a journey across a dry lake bed in Amboseli National Park, Kenya. Like this herd, countries have a journey to make to achieve the Paris Agreement. They map this out through national climate plans, which spell out how a country will reduce emissions and adapt to climate impacts. Nationally Determined Contributions, or ‘NDCs’ - are at the heart of the Paris Agreement. It requires every country to establish an initial national climate plan and then to update it every five years, starting from 2020. So f ..read more

While governments at COP28 failed to commit to a full phase out of all fossil fuels, the historic commitment they reached to ‘transition away’ from them must signal the beginning of the end of the age of coal, oil, and gas - the main drivers of the climate crisis. The science is clear - to prevent the worst consequences of global warming, we must rapidly replace fossil fuels with cleaner and cheaper renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. It is unfortunate that the COP28 decision left the door open for dangerous distractions such as large-scale carbon capture utilization and storage ..read more

The setting up of a Loss and Damage Fund at the UN climate talks in Sharm El-Sheikh last year was the standout success of an otherwise underwhelming CO27. But with just weeks until COP28 in Dubai, the prospect of the fund being operationalized this year is slipping away – preparatory discussions in October collapsed over disagreements on technical issues. The Fund was established to provide financial assistance to nations most negatively impacted by the climate crisis. Rapidly escalating climate-related disasters underscore the need for such a fund. In October alone, Cyclone Lola destroyed 10 ..read more

The past few weeks have offered a window into our future. From record temperatures being broken day-by-day to horrendous floods, storms, heatwaves, and fires violently devastating lives, economies, and ecosystems. No one can avoid the reality now that the climate crisis is here. No region or country is untouched by its impacts. And this is just the start. This should have been the final wake-up call for earth, but our leaders are seemingly barely stirring. This week we saw leaders at the G20 summit in India fail to show the ambition needed to confront this crisis, with a final communiqué that ..read more

2023 is ringing alarm bells on climate action, as disaster after disaster, crisis after crisis unfolds, devastating people and nature. It is, says UN Secretary General António Guterres, ‘a clarion call to massively fast-track climate efforts by every country and every sector and on every timeframe’. Bringing climate and energy issues to the centre of the multilateral system has never been more challenging nor more urgent than now. This year we will see the political consolidation of the Paris Agreement. The Global Stocktake(GST) - a first assessment of how the world is doing in meeting its com ..read more

By Mark Lutes, WWF Senior Advisor on Global Climate Policy Next week, governments will gather at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) headquarters in London to agree on its revised greenhouse gas strategy for the global shipping sector. At the center of this strategy is the medium and long term emissions reduction targets for the shipping sector and measures to achieve them. The global maritime transport sector is responsible for around 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climatic disruptions all over the world. Its Marine Environment Protection Committee will updat ..read more