Beyond COP 21: what did Asian countries pledge in the Paris Agreement?
A new CDKN working paper reviews 18 national climate commitments (INDCs) from countries of South and Southeast Asia and assesses their performance for four themes: mitigation targets; climate finance; disaster risk reduction; and social inclusion, particularly gender concerns. Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) are the blueprints developed by each country that outline how they plan to contribute towards tackling climate change beyond 2020. The INDCs were created by national governments and communicated to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) before and after the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21), held in Paris, France in 2015. The national-level commitments in the INDCs are now part of the Paris Agreement that came out of COP 21, and demonstrate the visions, strategies and priorities for addressing mitigation and adaption challenges. Combined, the aggregated commitments and priorities outline the nature, extent and magnitude of future global responses to managing climate change.