- English
The year 2023 marked a concerning milestone in climate history with the global average temperature being 1.45 ± 0.12°C above the pre-industrial average. The Global Stocktake at COP28 showed that the projected temperature rise is expected to be between 2.1 - 2.8°C even if nationally determined contributions (NDCs) of all countries are fully achieved. This reaffirms that Parties’ efforts to close the emissions gap alone, are insufficient and must be complemented by climate action from non-state actors (NSAs).
This policy brief highlights the key role of NSAs in bolstering the climate ambition of Parties. Although NSAs engagement in intergovernmental processes for climate governance and their emission reduction commitments have grown through the last decade, its impact is difficult to track. Concerns about accountability, credibility and transparency of net zero emission declarations by NSAs have also increased.
The main recommendations of this policy brief are building a shared understanding of climate action within the G20 and creating a robust transparency framework for integrating voluntary climate commitments of NSAs. Proposed measures include creating a global central repository for NSA actions, ensuring a consistent reporting framework, assessing potential impacts of NSA actions, including NSA commitments in Parties' NDC planning processes, verifying impacts, and establishing a digitally enabled climate action accountability system. Potential trade-offs include overestimation of NSA impacts, competing interests, polarization, resource redistribution risks, and dispersed policy approaches undermining coordination efforts.
- English
