The new report details the latest round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted by governments, assessing both the progress achieved and the major challenges that remain.

Taken together, Mr. Stiell said, they reveal “some green shoots of good news” and provide “clear stepping stones towards net zero emissions.”

If countries deliver on their current pledges, global emissions could decline by around 10 per cent by 2035, according to the UN climate chief. However, he cautioned that “action must be accelerated” to prevent further global warming.

Holistic approach

Many of the new NDCs adopt a “whole-of-society” approach, incorporating gender and youth perspectives and seeking to ensure that all sectors benefit from the shift to a low-carbon economy.

Mr. Stiell described this generation of commitments as a “step-change in quality, credibility and economic breadth”, calling on governments to implement policies that enable every nation to share in the benefits of clean energy and climate resilience.

The UN climate chief added that the private sector is also moving in the right direction, attracted by the huge rewards that the clean economy promises: “As the global shift to clean energy continues to scale, the dividends to follow will be far greater still, as climate action emerges as the economic growth and jobs engine of the 21st century.”

Is 1.5 still alive?

On the same day as the release of the climate report, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in an interview with the Guardian that humanity has failed to limit man-made global warming to the totemic 1.5ºC, leading to “devastating consequences.”

Mr. Guterres told journalists that delegates preparing to attend the COP30 UN Climate Conference in Belém, Brazil, in November need to change course and bring about a “dramatic decrease of emissions as soon as possible.”

Nevertheless, Mr. Stiell insisted that the science shows temperatures can be brought back down to 1.5°C (above pre-industrial levels), by substantially stepping up the pace of climate action.