Persuading nations to set and implement more ambitious pledges could depend on the success of COP29 climate talks beginning in two weeks in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.
Nearly 200 countries will thrash out the details of a new global emissions trading system as well as a hefty US$100 billion annual financial package to help developing countries meet their climate goals.
“What we are seeing is that in some cases, (the NDC process) might be used as a negotiating mechanism – more money for more ambition,” said Pablo Vieira, global director of the NDC Partnership, a non-government group that is helping around 60 countries draw up updated pledges.
“They also want to make sure that the new NDCs are investable, that they have the necessary elements that will attract not just public finance, but also private,” he said.
ATMOSPHERIC CO2 AT NEW RECORD
In a separate report, the UN’s weather monitoring body said on Monday that greenhouse gases have been accumulating in the atmosphere “faster than any time experienced during human existence” over the last two decades.
Carbon dioxide concentrations hit a new high of 420 parts per million (ppm) last year, up 2.3 ppm from a year earlier, and they have risen by 11.4 per cent in just 20 years, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in its annual greenhouse gas bulletin.
There are already signs that rising temperatures are driving dangerous “feedbacks” that will further increase atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, the report warned.
