Interpreting INDCs: Assessing Transparency of Post-2020 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Targets for 8 Top-Emitting Economies

The paper assesses the transparency of GHG emissions targets for eight top-emitting economies—Brazil, China, the EU, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, and the US—using the World Resources Institute's Open Book framework. While these parties generally followed the Lima Call for Climate Action, significant transparency gaps remain, particularly regarding land-sector accounting and market mechanisms. The analysis finds that absolute/base-year targets are generally presented more transparently than other target types. The document provides emissions trajectories through 2030 to quantify uncertainties caused by these gaps and recommends that parties provide more detailed assumptions, methodologies, and expected emission trajectories to improve accountability.

• All eight analyzed parties generally adhered to the basic reporting guidelines established in the Lima Call for Climate Action, addressing key categories such as time frames, scope, coverage, and target reference points.
• Transparency gaps persist across all eight assessed parties, creating significant uncertainty in the resulting emissions calculations for some countries and cumulatively.
• The type of emissions target influences the level of transparency; parties using absolute or base-year targets tend to be more transparent because the requirements for these targets are more straightforward.
• There is a widespread lack of detail regarding the accounting approach for the land sector and the specific levels and double-counting protections for international market mechanisms.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Interpreting INDCs: Assessing Transparency of Post-2020 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Targets for 8 Top-Emitting Economies. https://www.wri.org/research/interpreting-indcs-assessing-transparency-post-2020-greenhouse-gas-emissions-targets-8-top

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Interpreting INDCs: Assessing Transparency of Post-2020 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Targets for 8 Top-Emitting Economies. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/interpreting-indcs-assessing-transparency-post-2020-greenhouse-gas-emissions-targets-8-top.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Interpreting INDCs: Assessing Transparency of Post-2020 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Targets for 8 Top-Emitting Economies |url=https://www.wri.org/research/interpreting-indcs-assessing-transparency-post-2020-greenhouse-gas-emissions-targets-8-top |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendinterpreting, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Interpreting INDCs: Assessing Transparency of Post-2020 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Targets for 8 Top-Emitting Economies}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/interpreting-indcs-assessing-transparency-post-2020-greenhouse-gas-emissions-targets-8-top}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }