NDC Aspects

The Paris Agreement (PA) includes a crucial component called the Global Stocktake (GST), which is conducted every five years to evaluate the PA’s implementation and progress toward its long-term goals. The GST outcomes should guide countries in updating their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Some sectors are harder to decarbonize than others, and sectoral transformations are necessary in order to reach net-zero by 2050.

Transportation and mobility have significant challenges in decarbonization due to their heavy reliance on fossil fuels, particularly gasoline and diesel, which contribute substantially to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Emission-intensive industries like iron and steel and cement and concrete also face barriers in decarbonization, mainly in the production process, where fossil fuels are used for heating kilns and for blast furnaces. In the agriculture/forestry/and land-use sector, reducing emissions while maintaining food production also pose complex challenges.

The NDC ASPECTS project focuses on key sectors—transport and mobility, emission-intensive industries, buildings, and agriculture/forestry/land-use— high-emitting sectors with limited decarbonization progress. Through “Sectoral Conversations,” the project aims to create gender-responsive, evidence-based narratives for these sectors, informing global and national pathways. Transformation challenges and opportunities will be assessed, considering past NDC implementation, and quantitative analyses. Additionally, NDC ASPECTS will provide recommendations in international governance for sectoral transformations and aligning with Sustainable Development Goals.

The Deep Decarbonization Pathways initiative, through IDDRI, is a key part of the NDCAspects project, conducting analytical work and stakeholder engagement with our in-country partners, and also contributing to cross-cutting research on sectors like Transport and AFOLU, or on global governance such as the GST.

– Kick off Meeting: 26 – 27 May 2021 (online) – replay
– Second Project Meeting: 13 – 14 December 2021 (online)- Third project meeting: 19 – 20 October 2022 (Wuppertal, Germany)
– Fourth Project Meeting: 25 – 26 April 2023 (Paris, France)
– Fifth project meeting: 9th & 23rd November 2023 (online)
– Final project meeting and dissemination (Brussels, date tbd)

The official project website is:  https://www.ndc-aspects.eu/