The uneven influence of the Global Stocktake on national climate policy and the NDCs

The Global Stocktake (GST), concluded at the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Dubai in 2023, is seen as a central component of the Paris Agreement’s ambition cycle, as it is meant to assess collective global progress, which should inform future Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Many commentators and Parties put significant hope in the Stocktake’s ability to ratchet up ambition in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process.

Following the Dubai COP, which resulted in the impressive “Outcome of the global stocktake” (Decision -/CMA.5) spanning almost 200 detailed paragraphs, some Parties expected the GST to become a new impulse for collective efforts to combat climate change. More critical voices, however, expressed unease and concern about “replacing the Paris Agreement with the Global Stocktake” – which meant departing from the nationally determined and diversified approach that was agreed in 2015.

This policy brief takes a closer look of the influence on national climate policy and the NDCs.