Updated plans to reduce emissions, submitted so far by about 75 nations ahead of November’s COP26 summit, barely make a dent in the huge cuts needed to meet global climate goals, the UN climate chief said on Friday (26 February), calling for redoubled efforts.

A UN report summarising the revised climate action plans – covering about 40% of countries in the 2015 Paris Agreement and 30% of planet-heating emissions – said they would deliver a combined emissions reduction of only 0.5% from 2010 levels by 2030.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said global emissions must fall by about 45% by 2030 from 2010 levels to give the world a good chance of limiting the rise in average temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial times.

Under the Paris accord, nearly 200 countries pledged to keep warming to “well below” 2°C, and strive for a ceiling of 1.5°C.

So far, the planet has heated up by about 1.2°C, bringing worsening extreme weather and rising seas.

Many countries missed a 2020 deadline to submit stronger climate action plans because of disruption caused by the pandemic, with the COP26 summit in Glasgow postponed for a year.

The 75 countries that did submit revised plans on time include COP26 host Britain and the 27 member states of the European Union, which are covered by one EU-wide plan.

Guest post from EurActiv