Commentary: Ten years after Paris Agreement, climate action faces a reckoning

WASHINGTON DC: Ten years on from the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change, 2025 could have been a fitting anniversary – with countries updating their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and setting out 2035 emission targets.

Instead, 2025 has proven a difficult year for climate ambition. Trade disputes, energy security concerns and the resurgence of nationalist politics have distracted major economies from climate commitments. United States President Donald Trump has not just actively rolled back climate policies but has now threatened tariffs against countries that support an international agreement for a carbon tax on shipping emissions.

At an upcoming United Nations climate summit on Sep 24, key countries are expected to outline their 2035 emissions targets that will help set the floor for international ambition over the next decade. However, it will also spotlight a sobering reality: The scale of effort required to keep global warming in check remains immense, while political willingness to meet that challenge appears unprecedentedly strained.

Against this backdrop, the upcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September will be a critical moment of reckoning.

Developments in the world’s three most consequential economies – the United States, European Union and China – offer a window into shared political challenges and diverging capacities to sustain long-term progress, depending on their ability to align climate goals with economic strategy in this new phase of global climate action.