Leveraging NDC Partnerships Workshop at COP29
By Juan Pablo Hoffmaister, Associate Vice President, Global Engagement and Partnerships, Environmental Defense Fund
The deadline for countries to submit their updated Nationally Determined Contributions has now passed. As researchers like Pauw and Klein (2020) have emphasized, while ambition in NDCs is crucial, the effectiveness of these commitments depends equally on their transparency, coherence, and ability to be implemented. Building on this research framework, we have a critical opportunity to reinforce what transformational NDCs should look like.
The strength of an NDC is not measured by a single emissions reduction percentage. As highlighted in the academic literature (Pauw et al., 2018; Weikmans et al., 2019), the real test lies in quality, policy alignment, and the ability to track progress.
Here are a few factors we’ll be tracking as more submissions come forward: