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Dear readers,
Welcome to the Climate Weekly digest by the Centre for Science and Environment’s Climate Change programme and Down to Earth.
As COP30 approaches closer, countries are submitting their updated five-year climate targets, or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), under the 2015 Paris Agreement. However, the global climate governance architecture faces strong headwinds: militarism, trade wars, sovereign debt burdens and retreating multilateralism. In their latest two-part series, CSE Climate’s Avantika Goswami and Trishant Dev discuss the relevance of demanding ambitious NDCs based on emissions reduction and whether it serves the purpose of climate-resilient and low-carbon development in the Global South.
Goswami and Dev highlight that country pledges have prevented the world from yet higher levels of warming, bringing down potential warming from over 4°C to 2.7°C. NDCs also create a positive demand signal for clean technology investments and proliferation. The gap, however, is the lack of consideration for differentiated development and decarbonisation trajectories in developing economies. The barriers faced by the Global South—inadequate financial support, outdated trade rules, dependence on exports, high capital costs etc.—cannot be meaningfully addressed by cyclical demands for ambitious emissions reduction. NDCs, as they are currently framed, divorce countries’ climate needs from their development aspirations of growth and energy access.
In the second part of the series, Goswami and Dev ask veteran climate experts about the relevance of NDCs, who point out the importance of setting out credible pathways towards achieving climate targets, harnessing the co-benefits of climate action, the historical responsibility of developed nations, and framing NDCs as potential focal points for national political goals.
In energy transition news, according to the Renewables 2025 report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), global renewable power capacity is set to double by 2030, adding nearly 4,600 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy. Down to Earth’s Puja Das writes that solar photovoltaic (PV) continues to dominate clean energy expansion and is expected to become the world’s largest renewable source of electricity by 2030. Within this transition, India is emerging as a bright spot. The country poised to become the second-largest growth market for renewables, with capacity expected to increase 2.5 times by 2030. However, in order to meet the pledge of tripling global renewable capacity by 2030, countries will need to accelerate policy implementation, grid expansion and financial reforms.
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By - Upamanyu Das
Climate Change, CSE
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| EXTREME WEATHER TRACKER |
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Extreme rainfall, nearly 100 landslides cause 17 deaths in north Bengal; Sikkim almost cut off, 05 October 2025
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CLIMATE NEWS | SCIENCE| IMPACTS| POLITICS |
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| Data Centre |
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Carbon Politics: A Video Podcast by CSE |
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