ENHANCING NDCS BY 2020: ACHIEVING THE GOALS OF THE PARIS AGREEMENT

This World Resources Institute working paper outlines a 'menu of options' for countries to enhance their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2020. It argues that current NDCs are insufficient to limit warming to 1.5°C or 2°C and provides practical pathways to increase mitigation ambition, strengthen adaptation plans, improve implementation measures, and enhance transparency and communication.

• There is a significant gap between the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trajectory required to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement goals and the trajectory implied by current NDCs. Current mitigation targets, policies, and actions are insufficient to limit global warming to 1.5°C or well below 2°C.
• All Parties to the Paris Agreement have the opportunity to submit new or updated NDCs by 2020. This process is intended to create an 'upward spiral of ambition' where each successive NDC represents a progression beyond the previous one and reflects the Party's highest possible ambition.
• Mitigation ambition in NDCs can be enhanced through four primary pathways: strengthening or adding GHG targets, strengthening or adding sectoral non-GHG targets, strengthening or adding policies and actions, and aligning the implementation of existing NDCs with long-term goals.
• Beyond mitigation, NDCs can be enhanced by strengthening adaptation content. This includes updating information on climate trends, impacts, and vulnerabilities; articulating long-term goals or visions; outlining near-term planning and actions; and improving monitoring, evaluation, and learning plans.
• NDCs can be further improved by adding measures to strengthen implementation and enhancing communication to ensure clarity, transparency, and understanding. This includes providing detailed information on reference points, time frames, scope, coverage, and methodological assumptions.
• As of late 2017, 165 NDCs had been submitted by 192 countries, covering 87.6% of global emissions and representing approximately 3.3 Gt of CO2 equivalent emissions reduction by 2030 compared to business as usual. Approximately 87% of these NDCs include adaptation actions.
• Many developing country Parties require international support in the form of finance, technology, and capacity building to implement and enhance their NDCs. Over two-thirds of NDCs are fully or partially conditional on such support.
• The 2018 facilitative dialogue and the IPCC special report on the 1.5°C goal serve as critical milestones to inform the preparation of updated NDCs by 2020.

APA

FRANSEN, T., NORTHROP, E., MOGELGAARD, K., & LEVIN, K. (2017). ENHANCING NDCS BY 2020: ACHIEVING THE GOALS OF THE PARIS AGREEMENT. World Resources Institute. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/WRI17_NDC.pdf

Chicago

FRANSEN, TARYN, ELIZA NORTHROP, KATHLEEN MOGELGAARD, and KELLY LEVIN. ENHANCING NDCS BY 2020: ACHIEVING THE GOALS OF THE PARIS AGREEMENT. World Resources Institute, 2017. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/WRI17_NDC.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=FRANSEN |first1=TARYN |last2=NORTHROP |first2=ELIZA |last3=MOGELGAARD |first3=KATHLEEN |last4=LEVIN |first4=KELLY |title=ENHANCING NDCS BY 2020: ACHIEVING THE GOALS OF THE PARIS AGREEMENT |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=November 2017 |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/WRI17_NDC.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fransen2017enhancing, author = {FRANSEN, TARYN and NORTHROP, ELIZA and MOGELGAARD, KATHLEEN and LEVIN, KELLY}, title = {{ENHANCING NDCS BY 2020: ACHIEVING THE GOALS OF THE PARIS AGREEMENT}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2017}, month = nov, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/WRI17_NDC.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }