Explainer

The Top Polluting Nations Are Revising Their Emissions Targets. Is It Enough?

A worker at a solar power plant in India.Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg

Efforts to cut greenhouse-gas emissions are falling short of what scientists say must be done to avoid catastrophic climate change. At a climate summit convened on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, countries were encouraged to raise their climate ambition and targets.

So far, 47 of the 195 Paris Agreement signatories have submitted their latest plans for hitting emissions targets under the 2015 pact and another 52 parties have made summit announcements.