Fact check | What the UN’s climate pledge report can establish
The synthesis examines submitted national plans. Separate reporting tracks implementation.
A claim that a climate pledge has already reduced emissions goes beyond what the UN's pledge synthesis can establish. The UN climate secretariat's report compiles nationally determined contributions submitted under the Paris Agreement.
Those contributions describe targets and planned action. The synthesis can compare their coverage and implications, while an assessment of actual progress needs inventories or implementation reports. To check a claim, start by identifying whether the cited number is a target, a projection based on a plan or a measurement of emissions.