Current international efforts to mitigate climate change, including those deriving from countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), are expected to fall short of meeting the global long-term temperature goal set by the Paris Agreement. In particular, there is a substantial gap between short-/mid-term mitigation targets included in countries’ NDCs and the reductions in global GHG emissions that are needed to achieve the long-term temperature goal in the Paris Agreement.
Long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies (LT-LEDS) are long-term national strategies that identify opportunities or pathways for low-emission development that also consider broader socio-economic goals. In this context, long-term climate strategies represent an opportunity for countries to identify and set a long-term vision and/or target that defines a roadmap for the deep, economy-wide transformations needed to achieve low-emissions development.
This paper finds that there is potential for these long-term strategies or goals to guide short- and mid-term action and feed into the next rounds of NDCs. This paper presents seven case studies from countries’ experiences that highlight how a long-term climate mitigation perspective (included in LT-LEDS, other national long-term strategies, long-term goals, and sectoral long-term strategies) can drive and shape short-term action.