Enviro News Asia, Belém — The United Nations Climate Change has reported that global greenhouse gas emissions are starting to decline, according to the updated findings of the 2025 NDC Synthesis Report released on November 11, 2025, during the opening of COP30 in Belém, Brazil.
The update, shared in a letter from UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell to Parties and Observers, shows that global emissions are projected to fall by 12% by 2035 compared to 2019 levels. The assessment is based on new nationally determined contributions (NDCs) submitted by 113 Parties to the Paris Agreement, including several new commitments received in recent weeks.
Speaking at a press conference at COP30, Stiell welcomed the positive trend but emphasized that the current pace of progress remains insufficient to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
“That’s a big deal,” he said. “Every fraction of a degree of heating avoided will save millions of lives and billions of dollars in economic damage.”
Stiell stressed that the world is moving in the right direction, but the pace and scale of emission reduction and resilience-building efforts must increase significantly to meet global climate goals.
“We must accelerate in the Amazon,” he urged, underlining the symbolic importance of COP30’s host location.
The NDC Synthesis Report, first released in October 2025, compiles data from national climate plans to evaluate global progress toward emission reduction targets. While the updated figures reflect encouraging progress, the report also highlights remaining gaps in ambition, finance, and implementation capacity among many countries.
According to the UN analysis, although national commitments have improved since the Paris Agreement, collective action must triple in speed and scale to keep the 1.5°C threshold within reach. (*)
