Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are the main mechanism by which countries communicate their ambitions and efforts in support of the Paris Agreement. Starting in 2023 and every five years thereafter, governments take stock of the implementation of the Paris Agreement, known as the global stocktake (GST). The GST holds countries accountable for their collective efforts to achieve the targets they set themselves in 2015,and tracks the progress made. Recent analysis of country NDC commitments shows that progress is not happening ‘at a pace or scale consistent with achieving’ the goals of the Paris Agreement. Urgent transformational change is needed.
Climate change has already caused substantial damage and increasingly irreversible losses in terrestrial, coastal and open ocean ecosystems. Approximately 3.5 billion people live in areas that are highly vulnerable to climate change, more than one-third of which are coastal dwellers. Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are the main mechanism by which countries communicate their ambitions and efforts in support of the Paris Agreement.
This report asks, ‘to what extent the Commonwealth countries are including, and progressing, ocean-based actions in their NDCs and harnessing the significant opportunities available to them’. In 2022, the Commonwealth Blue Charter (CBC) published a baseline report on the NDCs of the 49 coastal and island states within the Commonwealth, with a focus on ocean-based actions. The updated 2023 analysis looks more deeply into the pathways countries are taking towards ocean-based action commitments and targets as referred to in their respective NDCs, while also highlighting best practices and recommendations to guide Commonwealth members in the development and achievement of their ocean-based current commitments and future priorities in revised NDCs.
This updated report also provides case studies on countries (Bangladesh, Dominica, Fiji, Kiribati, Singapore, United Kingdom) that have successfully mainstreamed ocean-based targets into their NDCs, across six NDC themes. It includes a new section to highlight opportunities for a sustainable blue economy, providing examples where countries have managed to both access and operationalise emerging ‘blue finance’ instruments and mechanisms.
