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Close to 100 countries – including nearly 40 Heads of State and Government – on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, announced, committed to finalising, or set out their commitment to implementing their new climate targets ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil this November.
The announcements came at a Climate Summit convened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil on the margins of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly.
“The science demands action. The law commands it. The economics compel it. And people are calling for it,” declared the UN Secretary-General in his opening statement.
New Commitments Covering Majority of Global Emissions
Around 100 Parties to the Paris Agreement representing two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions have now either submitted or unveiled new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets – setting out their commitments to accelerate climate action.
For the first time, several major economies including China – the world’s largest emitter – as well as Nigeria announced economy-wide emissions reduction targets covering all greenhouse gases and all sectors. Other nations detailed ambitious renewable energy goals, plans to curb methane emissions, strategies to safeguard forests, and measures to phase out fossil fuels.
Leaders emphasised that accelerating the energy transition can unlock jobs, growth, and energy security. Developing countries, meanwhile, underscored the importance of incorporating adaptation, resilience, and loss and damage measures within their NDCs, stressing the urgent need for scaled-up financing to meet and surpass their ambitions.
A Decade of Acceleration Must Begin in Belém
While Wednesday’s pledges mark progress, leaders acknowledged that ambition gaps remain to keep 1.5C in reach and deliver on finance and adaptation. Solutions Dialogues held throughout the week by the United Nations and Brazil highlighted that the technologies and tools needed to decarbonize energy, transport, and industry, protect forests, and strengthen resilience are already available. The challenge now is to accelerate scale.
With COP30 just weeks away, the Secretary-General urged all countries yet to finalise their NDCs to do so without delay: “COP30 in Brazil must conclude with a credible global response plan to get us on track.”
Closing the Climate Summit, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, said, “Leaders across the world have stood together to show that even at a moment of division and uncertainty, the resolve and determination to fight the climate crisis is alive and strong.”
Solutions Dialogues
A series of Climate Solutions Dialogues were convened by the UN, Brazil and other partners were held in the days before the Climate Summit, to identify the concrete solutions that can accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement, while strengthening multilateralism and connecting climate action to people and businesses.
The dialogues brought together governments, international institutions, civil society, business, and finance leaders on a range of issues related to climate action:
- Adaptation
- Digital Public Infrastructure
- Early Warning Systems and Extreme Heat
- Energy Transition
- Finance
- Industrial Decarbonisation
- Information Integrity
- Methane
- Non-State Actors
- Tropical Forests Forever Facility
