• All 10 warmest years have happened since 2015, highlighting rapid recent warming

• World witnesses record heat waves, intensifying floods and droughts, devastating wildfires as well as loss of glaciers

LONDON

A decade ago, nearly all nations on Earth agreed to an unprecedented pact to limit global warming, an ambitious target that made the Paris Agreement the backbone of global climate efforts. However, it is increasingly questioned whether the world is on the right track, as global temperatures in 2024 rose more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for the first time in a calendar year.

The 21st session of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris marked a significant milestone in global efforts to tackle climate change when 195 parties – 194 nations and the EU – adopted the Paris Agreement to limit global warming.

The legally binding treaty set an ambitious target, to unite nearly all nations to limit global warming to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels, ideally to 1.5C.

Along with the key target of limiting global warming, it also sets out a plan for countries to submit Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for emission cuts, review them every five years to increase ambition, and achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions globally by the second half of the century.

While also providing climate finance and support for adaptation, especially for developing nations, the treaty also fundamentally shapes all subsequent high-level climate talks.

According to the UN, although climate change action needs to be massively increased to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, the years since its entry into force have already sparked low-carbon solutions and new markets.

More and more countries, regions, cities and companies are establishing carbon neutrality targets while zero-carbon solutions are becoming competitive across economic sectors, representing 25% of emissions.

More than 150 countries and thousands of corporations have adopted net-zero targets, which were considered nearly impossible just a decade ago.

The UN noted that by 2030, zero-carbon solutions could be competitive in sectors representing more than 70% of global emissions.

Another positive impact is renewable energy as policies spurred by the treaty, renewables, efficiency rules, EV mandates and methane cuts have prevented an estimated billions of tons of CO2 from being released.

New data by the global energy think tank Ember found that renewables have surpassed coal as the world's leading source of electricity generation for the first time in the first half of 2025.

In addition, electric vehicles are also now representing more than one in five new cars sold in some major markets.

The landmark climate deal led to the rapid expansion of early-warning systems for disasters globally, as more than 90% of countries have now national adaptation plans in the face of worsening impacts of climate change.

In 2022, the parties established a mechanism, called the Loss and Damage Fund, which aims to provide financial aid to developing nations suffering severe climate impacts.

Emissions still rising, countries missing deadlines

Despite these new mechanisms and a wide range of climate policies, experts repeatedly warn that the world is falling significantly short.

Ten years later, emissions are still rising, countries are missing deadlines, and actions are inadequate to meet the goals of limiting warming.

In addition to an increase in the use of renewables, however, countries are blamed for a lack of political will for fossil fuel phase-outs as well as insufficient climate finance.

The State of Climate Action 2025 report, recently published by Systems Change Lab, found that none of the 45 key indicators for limiting global warming to 1.5C, in line with 2015’s Paris Agreement, are on track for 2030.

Experts warned that a decade of delay has dangerously narrowed the path to 1.5C, the key target of the Paris Agreement, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stresses that limiting warming to around 1.5C requires global greenhouse gas emissions to peak before 2025 at the latest, and be reduced by 43% by 2030.

The continued use of fossil fuels exacerbates global warming, as they remain dominant despite the growing demand for renewables.

As part of climate impacts and adaptation policies, there is a clear gap globally over the past decade when the world witnessed record heat waves, intensifying floods and droughts, devastating wildfires, as well as loss of glaciers.

2025 is set to become the second-hottest year globally since records began, according to new data released earlier this week by EU's climate service Copernicus.

Shocking figures reveal that all 10 warmest years have happened since 2015, highlighting a rapid recent warming

Reports indicate that a decade after Paris, the world is better off than it would have been without the Paris climate accord; however, it also reveals inadequate efforts to close the gap between ambition and action amid the ongoing climate emergency.