Global Stocktake

The Global Stocktake is a periodic review of how far the world has collectively progressed towards the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. Established under Article 14, it assesses implementation of the Agreement and informs stronger climate action and support; it evaluates collective progress rather than judging individual countries.

Legal basis and timing

The stocktake is conducted by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA). It connects the Agreement's long-term goals with its recurring cycle of national climate commitments.

• Article 14 provides for the first stocktake in 2023 and every five years thereafter, unless the CMA decides otherwise.
• Under Article 4.9, countries must communicate nationally determined contributions every five years, informed by the stocktake's outcomes.

What the stocktake assesses

The assessment is comprehensive and facilitative, covering mitigation, adaptation, and means of implementation and support. It must be conducted in the light of equity and the best available science.

• Mitigation assessment examines collective progress towards limiting global temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.
• Adaptation assessment examines progress in strengthening adaptive capacity, resilience and responses to climate impacts.
• Assessment of support considers finance, technology development and transfer, and capacity-building needed to implement climate action.
• Equity requires attention to differing responsibilities, capabilities and national circumstances when considering collective progress.

How the mechanism works

Decision 19/CMA.1 organises the stocktake into three components that connect evidence gathering with technical assessment and consideration of the results.

• Information collection and preparation gathers inputs such as Party reports, scientific assessments and information from relevant bodies and stakeholders.
• Technical assessment uses dialogues to assess collective progress and identify opportunities for enhanced action and support.
• Consideration of outputs examines the findings and identifies their implications for strengthening climate action and international cooperation.

How the findings influence climate action

The stocktake functions as a collective feedback mechanism, not an individual-country compliance tribunal. Its outcomes inform countries in updating and enhancing their actions and support in a nationally determined manner, while also strengthening international cooperation.

• It helps identify gaps between existing efforts and the Paris Agreement's goals.
• It informs subsequent nationally determined contributions, but does not itself allocate binding emissions-reduction targets to individual countries.