Global Climate Pledges: A Progress Report

The report evaluates several major global climate pledges, finding that most are currently off-track. While there are isolated successes—such as the UK closing its last coal plant and growth in electric car sales—critical goals like tripling renewable energy by 2030 and halting deforestation are not being met. The document highlights a significant gap between high-level commitments and implementation, particularly in the financial sector where net-zero plans are deemed insufficient and fossil fuel subsidies have reached record highs. It calls for a shift from loose networks to platforms of accountability as countries develop their next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for 2025.

• The world is currently failing to meet the COP28 goal to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030. Renewable capacity grew by 14% in 2023, which is below the 16.4% annual growth rate required. Energy efficiency improvements remained at only 1% per year for 2023 and 2024, whereas a 4% annual improvement is needed to hit the target.
• Global forest loss is worsening, with current rates exceeding those seen in 2021, indicating a failure to meet the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration goal to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030. Additionally, only 17% of land and 8% of marine/coastal areas are protected, leaving a gap of 16.7 million square kilometers of land and over 78 million square kilometers of marine areas to be protected by 2030.
• Financial sector commitments to net-zero are largely ineffective, with a study of two dozen top banks showing that none of their plans would actually achieve net-zero emissions. Furthermore, global explicit fossil fuel subsidies reached an all-time high of $1.3 trillion between 2020 and 2022.
• Urban climate action remains insufficient, with only 27% of current NDCs containing strong urban initiatives. Only 7% of G20 cities and regions have at least one target aligned with the 1.5 degrees C warming limit, and approximately 60% are failing to reduce emissions at the pace required by their own targets.
• While electric car sales are on track to meet the targets required for a 1.5 degrees C scenario, the world is off track for electric buses and freight vehicles. To meet the goal, electric car sales must increase from 10% in 2021 to over 85% by 2030, and public buses must increase from 4% to 60%.
• Methane emissions from the energy sector reached near-record highs in 2023 despite the Global Methane Pledge. However, progress is being made in monitoring and funding, including $1 billion in new grant funding and the emergence of satellite detection initiatives like MethaneSAT and CarbonMapper.
• Progress in food systems transformation is emerging, with around 40 countries engaging in policy work aligned with the COP28 Declaration. Sierra Leone specifically secured $100 million from the African Development Bank for food systems action.

APA

World Resources Institute (2024). Global Climate Pledges: A Progress Report. https://www.wri.org/insights/climate-commitment-tracker

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Global Climate Pledges: A Progress Report. 2024. https://www.wri.org/insights/climate-commitment-tracker.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Global Climate Pledges: A Progress Report |date=11 November 2024 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/climate-commitment-tracker |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2024global, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Global Climate Pledges: A Progress Report}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/climate-commitment-tracker}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }