Over 90% of countries miss Paris accord deadline for new emissions targets

U.S. pullout and EU political uncertainty leave movement without clear leaders

Only 16 of the 195 signatories to the Paris climate accord had submitted emissions reduction targets before the mid-February deadline. © Reuters

AYAKA OTAKA, TAKANORI OKABE and TAKASHI TSUJI

February 25, 2025 02:06 JST

TOKYO/MUMBAI/BRUSSELS -- More than 90% of countries and regions in the Paris climate accord failed to submit new targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by the mid-February deadline, as weakening political will in the U.S. and Europe saps momentum from the effort.

Signatories to the 2015 Paris Agreement are required to update their carbon-cutting plans, or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), every five years, with the latest deadline set nine months before the COP30 climate change conference scheduled for Brazil in November. As of Monday, only 16 of the 195 signatories had updated targets published on the NDC registry.