Top polluters, including India, miss UN's climate target deadline
What's the story
Several of the world's leading polluter nations, including India, have missed a United Nations (UN) deadline to set new climate goals.
This comes amid growing concerns over global warming and after the election of US President Donald Trump.
The countries had until today to submit their updated national climate strategies to the UN, detailing their plans to cut emissions by 2035.
Submission status
Only 10 countries met the deadline
Out of nearly 200 countries that are part of the Paris Agreement, only 10 met the February 10 deadline, according to a UN database that tracks these submissions.
The documents are critical to assessing climate strategies ahead of the COP30 summit.
As of today, major polluters such as China and the European Union had not submitted their plans.
Climate concern
Global warming has now reached 1.5 degrees Celsius
Bill Hare, the CEO of science and policy institute Climate Analytics, expressed disappointment at the lack of substantial action from governments.
He highlighted that global warming has now sustained at 1.5 degrees Celsius for an entire year.
The Paris climate accord, signed in 2015, obliges nations to prevent global warming from exceeding this level above pre-industrial times.
However, actions taken so far haven't been enough.
Climate action
US, UK, Brazil, Japan, Canada have announced new climate plans
Despite the missed deadline by many countries, some major economies like the US, UK, Brazil, Japan and Canada have announced their new climate strategies.
However, there are concerns that Trump may discard the US's contribution made during Joe Biden's tenure.
Last month, he directed the US to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and put a hold on some federal clean energy expenditure.
Future plans
Most countries will produce their plans this year
Most countries have said they will still produce their plans this year, Simon Stiell, the UN's Climate Chief, said last week.
"Countries are taking this extremely seriously, which isn't surprising given these plans will be key to how much of the $2 trillion boom governments can secure," Stiell said, referring to the global investment in clean energy and infrastructure last year.
Plan preparation
EU, India, China yet to finalize their climate plans
EU's climate policy chief Wopke Hoekstra told Reuters last month that the bloc's policymaking cycle didn't match the UN deadline.
However, he promised Brussels would have its plan ready for the COP30 UN climate summit in November.
An Indian government official said India is still conducting necessary studies to formulate its climate plan.
China has also said it will release its climate plan "in due course."