Is it possible to track progress of the submitted nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement?
This paper analyses whether the information contained in the nationally determined contributions (NDC) submissions is transparent and sufficient to track progress with the mitigation targets expressed in the NDCs and summarizes the accounting decisions assumed in the submitted NDCs, e.g. what type of emissions and removals, gases, sectors will Parties count as part of their mitigation targets, which methodologies will they use, against which references will the future emissions be compared or how will the LULUCF sector be treated. The accounting decisions made as part of the NDCs are also relevant for the quantification of the impact of the individual NDCs in a precise manner and the aggregate effect of the NDCs under the Paris Agreement and an assessment whether the NDCs include ambitious mitigation targets.