Despite a recent flurry of new national emissions pledges, the world is still far away from preventing catastrophic climate change, experts say—noting that major polluters including China and Russia have yet to submit revised plans before a major UN climate summit in November, reported Reuters.
Nearly half of the 200 nations that signed the 2015 Paris climate accord failed to submit new pledges by a UN deadline of the end of July. Saudi Arabia and India are among about 90 countries that have yet to detail how they will beef up their previous targets.
“It’s abysmal. It’s absolutely unacceptable,” said Saleemul Huq, chair of the expert advisory group of the Climate Vulnerable Forum of 48 countries, adding that countries’ progress should be measured by the real-world action they are taking to cut emissions—not just their targets for future years.
China said it plans to announce an updated NDC before November, after pledging last year to reach net zero emissions by 2060.
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