The Paris Agreement lays out a clear path for signatory countries to increase the ambition, scope and breadth of their climate policies and targets, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Every five years, countries are required to submit updated NDCs, each round representing a progression beyond the previous; the next round is due in early 2025.
In 2021, as Canada prepared to strengthen its 2030 NDC, CAN-Rac offered seven benchmarks to assess its ambition. Throughout this document, we analyze the progress made since 2021 against these seven benchmarks and identify key recommendations for Canada’s new NDC for 2035.