Abstract
The nationally determined contributions (NDCs) of the Paris Agreement remain one of the main platforms with which the climate action Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 13) can be attained. However, not much work is emerging that reflects the extent to which the available NDCs are geared towards this mammoth task. Drawing from the set SDG 13 targets, an auditing matrix to determine the NDCs’ compliance with the climate action goal and targets was developed. Sixty countries formed the sample drawn from all the continents. The findings show that there is a huge gap in the provision of NDCs in developed countries, and this may result in failure to adequately address SDG 13. This is mainly due to the mitigation bias of the NDCs as per the mandate stipulated in Article 3 of the Paris Agreement. This paper recommends that in the next rounds of revising the NDCs in 2020, 2025 and 2030, all countries should make every effort to voluntarily have their NDCs responding to the broader climate action call presented through SDG 13 targets. This is important, given that SDG 13 is under the custodianship of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which hosts the Paris Agreement.
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Notes
- 1.
The EU 28 were the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
- 2.
These countries are Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cambodia, Canada, the Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Djibouti, Dominica and Eritrea.
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Nhamo, G. (2020). Auditing the Adequacy of NDCs in Addressing the Climate Action Sustainable Development Goal. In: Nhamo, G., Odularu, G., Mjimba, V. (eds) Scaling up SDGs Implementation. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33216-7_5
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