Paris Agreement and Nationally Determined Contributions

The Paris Agreement is an international climate treaty adopted in 2015 that brings countries together to limit global warming. It uses nationally determined contributions (NDCs), which are national climate plans containing each country's mitigation commitments, rather than assigning identical emissions targets to all countries.

Temperature goals and national responsibility

Under Article 2, countries aim to hold the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. NDCs translate this collective objective into nationally chosen action.

• Implementation reflects equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances.
• The Agreement seeks global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, recognising that peaking will take longer for developing countries, followed by rapid reductions.

How the NDC ambition cycle works

Article 4 requires each Party to prepare, communicate and maintain successive NDCs and pursue domestic mitigation measures aimed at achieving their objectives.

• Each Party must communicate an NDC every five years, creating a recurring opportunity to strengthen climate action.
• Each successive NDC is to represent a progression beyond the previous contribution and reflect the country's highest possible ambition.
• Countries determine their own contributions, allowing mitigation commitments to reflect national circumstances rather than a uniform, internationally assigned emissions quota.
• The global stocktake, conducted every five years under Article 14, assesses collective progress and informs countries when updating and enhancing their actions and support.

Accountability, support and limits

The Agreement combines binding procedural obligations with nationally determined mitigation objectives. It does not make achievement of every NDC emissions target an internationally binding obligation of result.

• The enhanced transparency framework under Article 13 requires regular reporting on emissions and information needed to track progress, with flexibility for developing countries that need it in light of their capacities.
• Technical expert review and multilateral consideration help scrutinise implementation and progress.
• Finance, technology development and transfer, and capacity-building support developing countries' climate action.
• The Article 15 implementation and compliance mechanism is facilitative and non-punitive, rather than a system of sanctions.
• Because targets are nationally determined, the temperature goals depend on the collective adequacy of successive NDCs and their effective domestic implementation.