NDC Energy Commitments Tracker

Energy transition commitments are broken down into metrics: clean energy deployment, energy efficiency targets, no new coal, phase down of unabated coal power, pathways to wind down oil and gas production, reducing fossil fuels’ share of electricity, and phasing out inefficient subsidies. The tracker also highlights where commitments are conditional on international finance or support. Hover over each metric to read the relevant language in the NDC. 

To capture progress, the tracker assesses whether each NDC: 

1. Does not mention how the country will act on the commitment in question.
2. Mentions how the country will act on the commitment, without giving a target or timeframe. 
3. Sets a quantified target or timeline towards meeting the commitment. 
4. Sets a quantified target or timeline towards meeting the commitment AND this is the highest level of ambition (either the country’s first NDC or an enhancement of a previous one). 
5. Or if the commitment is not applicable to that country, e.g. a country has no coal in its electricity mix (marked as cream/blank). 

It also identifies whether these energy-related targets are conditional on international finance or capacity-building support – hover over the target to see conditionality and the relevant NDC quote. 

This tracker offers a quick overview of how far NDCs are laying out concrete plans to deliver on the COP28 energy package – and where ambition needs to be raised ahead of COP30 in Belém. The full methodology can be found here.

The vast majority of countries are including renewable energy build-out in national planning: 86% (87/101) of NDCs mention plans to increase renewable energy capacity, either by setting quantified targets, or mentions without specific targets or timeframes. 

A large majority have set quantified targets: 63% (64/101) of the NDCs submitted to date either quantify their 2035 renewable energy goal, or, in the case of Bhutan, Ethiopia, Iceland, Lesotho and Uruguay, already have such a high penetration of renewables in their power mix that an increase in ambition is not possible. The Holy See and Vatican City are excluded as “the State has neither fossil fuel sources nor energy production plants, with the exception of a negligible amount of energy produced from renewable sources.”

Nigeria’s NDC targets a 50% renewable energy share in the generation mix by 2030, though this includes 17,000MW of gas, a non-renewable fossil fuel. 

Nine countries – Bolivia, Honduras, Japan, Mongolia, Norway, Panama, Serbia, Tunisia, and Zambia – do not mention increasing renewable energy deployment at all in their NDCs. Norway directs readers to their National Inventory Document (NID), submitted in March 2025, which states that: “Norway produces electricity mainly from hydropower and therefore, emissions from electricity production are small compared to most other countries.”

Almost all countries – 88% (89/101) – mention improving energy efficiency in their NDC. However, less than half – 43% (44/101) – provide a quantified target. The remaining 44% (45/101) NDCs that mention energy efficiency reference making improvements without providing any detail. This shows that countries are thinking about energy efficiency improvements, but are not yet making sufficient targets and plans to meet the GST goal of doubling improvements to energy efficiency by 2030. 

Energy efficiency references feature on both the supply and demand side. However, references are heavily weighted towards demand-side measures, with less attention to the supply side, where some of the largest and most cost-effective efficiency gains can be achieved. This imbalance suggests an opportunity for countries to strengthen their national energy planning by placing greater emphasis on improving efficiency in energy supply systems.

Of the 44 countries that provide a quantified target for their energy efficiency goals, 38 explicitly reference appliance efficiency and other demand-side measures (39% of all newly submitted NDCs). Examples include:

• Liberia: “20% improvement in energy efficiency across public sector institutions by 2035 through systematic demand-side energy management. Providing clean cooking solutions to 200,000 households to reduce emissions from traditional biomass use. [Policy measures:] Develop, adopt and enforce Minimum Energy performance standards (MEPS), promote labeling and reduce leakage for cooling and heating appliances to improve energy efficiency by 2035.”  
• UK: “The Warm Homes Plan will incentivise the transition to low carbon heating for homes and buildings and deliver warmer, more energy-efficient homes. As the first steps, the government has committed an initial £3.4 billion towards heat decarbonisation and household energy efficiency over the next three years. […] To support the installation of low carbon heating, the government is making heat pumps more efficient and easier to install. In addition to removing planning rules which previously required heat pumps to be installed within 1m of a property boundary, the government is consulting on product energy efficiency standards. Furthermore, funding for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme will be increased to £295m for 2025/26, supporting households to install low carbon heating. Alongside this, the Clean Heat Market Mechanism will be introduced from 1st April 2025, requiring boiler manufacturers to ensure a proportion of their sales are low carbon options.” 

This matches earlier analysis from CLASP, which celebrates the higher rate of countries including appliance efficiency in their NDCs in this submission cycle, but states that actionable targets are still needed to maximise impact. 

18 countries explicitly refer to improving supply-side efficiency, such as modernising the grid and reducing transmission or generation losses (18% of all newly submitted NDCs). Examples include:  

• Tuvalu: “Combining implementation of renewable energy for electricity generation and improved energy efficiency will not only be cost effective but will ensure that affordable electricity is available to the people of Tuvalu. High Priority: Enhancing energy efficiency across energy sector through generation, transmission and distribution network upgrades, load despatch systems.” 
• Zimbabwe: “Other measures that are being taken to reduce these technical losses include transmitting electricity at large voltage and using more energy-efficient transmission and distribution cables.” 

79% of countries that have submitted new NDCs (80/101 countries) either have no coal in their energy mix, or reference intentions to phase down unabated coal power. 

Of the 48 countries still using coal, over half (56%, 27/48) mention plans to phase down unabated coal power, with 11 countries providing a timeline for this effort. 12/48 countries (27% of coal-using countries) include a commitment to stop permitting and building new coal. These are Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Colombia, the European Union, Malaysia, Mauritius, Morocco, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and the UK.  

Half of the countries that have submitted NDCs so far (56/101) do not have coal-fired power plants. 

Of the 11 countries who have set quantified targets to phase down coal, only four are not members of the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA): Australia, Cambodia, Malaysia and Nepal.  

• “Australia is rapidly shifting to a modern, cost-effective electricity system based on renewable energy, with coal-fired power-generation phasing out […] Modelling by the Australian Energy Market Operator indicates that under a net zero scenario, 90% of today’s coal capacity could be closed by 2035, and the entire coal fleet before 2040.” 
• Cambodia is targeting a 72% renewable energy share by 2035 and commits “to gradually reduce reliance on coal-fired power plants while ensuring energy security during the transition to renewable energy.” This includes implementing a coal moratorium on new projects and accelerating the retirement of older inefficient plants. 
• Malaysia’s NDC states that “coal-fired power plants are set for near-complete retirement through natural phase-outs, with no new additions planned. Renewable energy is poised to make a substantial contribution to installed capacity.” 
• Nepal has set quantified targets to reduce the percentage share of coal used in industry and heating. 

There are eight PPCA members that have coal in their electricity mix, but have not included a quantified target or timeline to phase down its use in their power sector in their new NDCs: Colombia, Montenegro, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Switzerland, UAE, the US. 

79% of NDC submissions (76/95, not counting countries who have little to no fossils in their power mix already) mention some form of intent to transition away from fossil fuels in the power mix overall (across coal, oil and gas); 46 of these are quantified targets or timelines. 52% (52/101) provide a quantified target or timeline for doing so. 

Bhutan, Ethiopia, Iceland, Lesotho and Uruguay are excluded from this analysis as they already have a high penetration of renewables in their electricity mix. The Holy See is also excluded as “the State has neither fossil fuel sources nor energy production plants, with the exception of a negligible amount of energy produced from renewable sources.” Therefore the 80% figure is calculated as 75/95 NDCs. 

Examples include: 

• Kenya’s updated NDC, in which the government pledge to “Undertake energy sector reforms aimed at universal access to adequate, reliable, and affordable energy services, to enable the achievement of […] increased renewable electricity generation in the national grid towards 100% by 2035.” This target is conditional on international support.  
• Vanuatu includes the strongest language on fossil fuel phase out, writing: “This NDC recommits Vanuatu to rapidly phasing out fossil fuels, deeply decarbonising and transitioning completely to a circular economy. […] This NDC 3.0 maintains Vanuatu’s position to become a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific, the first region in the world to achieve the equitable phaseout of fossil fuel production and use.” Vanuatu’s NDC is conditional on internal finance and support. 
• Brazil’s NDC mentions the need for launching international work to define equitable timelines to transition away from fossil fuels “with developed countries taking the lead”. 

No country has provided a quantified target for winding down oil and gas production. Of the 101 NDCs submitted in this cycle, 55 produce oil or fossil gas.  

Of these 55, only three – Canada, Colombia and the UK – included a mention of reducing oil and gas production: 

1. Canada: “New and additional actions may be considered as part of the development of Canada’s 2035 Emissions Reduction Plan. [This includes] Transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly and equitable manner.” 
2. Colombia: “The country has taken historic decisions, including the suspension of new hydrocarbon exploration contracts, while moving forward with plans for a progressive reduction in the use of fossil fuels.” 
3. UK: “We will consult on not issuing new oil and gas licenses to explore new fields.” The UK is targeting at least 95% of power generation being from renewable sources by 2030, and phased out coal in 2024.  

NDCs also reflect more broadly how countries are considering their transitions away from fossil fuels. A small but growing set of NDCs explicitly reference economic transition alongside energy targets. For example, Barbados acknowledges the fiscal risks of shifting away from imported fossil fuels; the UAE links its climate goals to long-term economic diversification beyond oil and cites the COP28 call to “transition away from fossil fuels”; and Canada and the UK highlight worker re-skilling and jobs legislation as part of managed economic transitions. Others, including Moldova and the Maldives, reference economic diversification plans, though these are not yet the same as a comprehensive transition strategy to reduce dependence on oil and gas. 

Very few countries reference fossil fuel subsidies. Only nine newly submitted NDCs are from countries with no inefficient fossil fuel subsides. Of the 92 countries with subsidies, 71 (77%) fail to mention subsidy reform in their NDC, despite its inclusion in Paragraph 28 of the GST text. 

21 countries (23% of those with subsides) mention fossil fuel subsidies, but do not include a timeline for their phase out: Angola, Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the European Union, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, the Maldives, the Marshall Islands, Moldova, Switzerland, Ukraine, the UAE, the UK, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Vanuatu.  

No NDC includes a timeline for the phase out of fossil fuel subsidies. 

While they do not provide a quantified goal or timeline for phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, six countries (6% of new NDCs) either mention the intention to provide this or are members of a coalition committed to implementing national strategies for exiting these subsidies: Australia, Canada, the European Union, the Marshall Islands, the UK, and Vanuatu. 

The Marshall Islands and Vanuatu include the strongest language on fossil fuel subsidy exit, with both SIDS stating that they are committed to phasing out all fossil fuel subsidies “as soon as possible”. 

Eight countries do not have inefficient fossil fuel subsidies: Bhutan, Holy See, Iceland, Monaco, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Singapore, Somalia, and Tuvalu. 

More than three-quarters (77%, 78/101) of the 2035 NDCs – and of EMDEs, 90% of the 2035 NDCs – submitted to date are conditional (or partly conditional) on international finance, technical assistance, or some other form of support. 

Zimbabwe and the small island developing states of Barbados and Niue are outliers in submitting a conditional NDC that has lowered ambition on an energy goal, signalling that the necessary finance to support energy their energy commitments is not flowing.  

• Barbados revised its previous goal of achieving a fossil fuel-free economy by 2030 to 2040, “in light of the significant challenges faced by the country”. 
• Niue’s previous NDC targeted an 80% share of renewable energy in the electricity mix by 2025; in its new NDC, this target has been pushed to 2035.  
• Zimbabwe delayed its target of 300MW of grid-connected solar from 2025 (as outlined in its previous NDC) to 2035. The expansion of microgrids to 2MW is also delayed from 2028 to 2035.