Developed nations fail to lead action against climate change

The developed countries’ latest national climate plans expose a stark truth — Those most responsible for the climate crisis are still refusing to lead its solution, a new analysis by Climate Action Network (CAN) International said on Friday.In the analytical report that has come just weeks before COP30, the network said instead of phasing out fossil fuels, most of the countries continue to subsidise or expand them. Instead of honouring finance commitments so that developing nations could transit to clean energy, the developed nations defer and dilute them.

Among developed countries, the European Union failed to submit their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) on time (September 2025), while the US submitted their NDC before withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. India is expected to submit its NDC in the first week of November.

NDCs are climate action plans submitted by each country under the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. These plans, which countries must update every five years, outline national targets.

“The EU and the US together account for over 40% of historical CO2 emissions. Besides, nine other G20 countries did not submit their NDCs by the end of September — Argentina, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey. Together with the EU, they account for half of current global emissions,” the report said.

Despite a clear mandate from the UAE COP28 decision, every fossil-fuel-producing developed country omits a timeline to end coal, oil or gas production. The report pointed out that while developed countries have the responsibility to take the lead in climate action, they have failed to deliver promised climate finance and fossil fuel phase-out commitments.

“Brazil and Russia, the only two other G20 countries that have submitted their NDCs, did not commit to phase out fossil fuels. None of the countries that currently provide fossil fuel subsidies have committed to phasing them out completely. Every country plans or is considering using carbon offsets to achieve their targets and/or unproven and risky technologies such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage, shifting the focus from phasing out production itself to reducing emissions from fossil fuel production,” the analysis said.

The report further asserted that climate finance is a key enabler for the implementation of climate mitigation strategies and COP30 must bring clarity on provision of quality climate finance at scale.

India