Changes of position

Nationally determined contributions: how they are recorded and revised

Q: How often must countries submit an NDC?

Every five years under Article 4.9 of the Paris Agreement.

Q: When did the US withdrawal take effect?

The Depositary notice said 27 January 2026.

Last checked 6 November 2026 · 5 sources

Short answer

A nationally determined contribution (NDC) is the climate commitment each party to the Paris Agreement must prepare, communicate and maintain ¹. Parties communicate a new NDC every five years, and each new one is meant to be a progression beyond the last ¹. NDCs are recorded in a public registry kept by the UNFCCC secretariat ^1,3. A party may adjust its existing NDC at any time to raise its ambition ¹. A party can leave the Agreement by written notice, which takes effect after one year ^1,5.

Legal basis: Paris Agreement, Article 4 ¹
Cycle: A new NDC every five years ^1,2
Where recorded: Public registry maintained by the UNFCCC secretariat ^1,3
Adjustment: At any time, to raise ambition, under Article 4.11 ¹
Withdrawal notice period: One year from receipt by the Depositary ¹

What the Paris Agreement requires

Article 4.2 says each party shall prepare, communicate and maintain successive nationally determined contributions that it intends to achieve ¹. It says parties shall pursue domestic mitigation measures with the aim of achieving the objectives of those contributions ¹. The duty is to prepare and pursue the NDC. The text frames the contribution as one the party intends to achieve ¹.

Article 4.3 says each successive NDC will represent a progression beyond the party's current one and reflect its highest possible ambition ¹. Article 4.9 says each party shall communicate an NDC every five years, informed by the outcomes of the global stocktake ¹.

The public registry

Article 4.12 says NDCs communicated by parties shall be recorded in a public registry maintained by the secretariat ¹. The UNFCCC says NDCs are submitted every five years to the secretariat and listed in that registry ². Each registry entry shows the party, the document title, its language, its status and the date ³.

When an NDC replaces an earlier one, the registry shows the new document as active ³. The European Union and its 27 member states file one joint NDC, which the registry lists under the EU and under each member state, dated 5 November 2025 ³.

Party	Registry entry	Date shown in registry
Australia ³	Australia's second NDC ³	18 September 2025 ³
China ³	China's 2035 NDC, in Chinese ³	3 November 2025 ³
European Union ³	NDC of the European Union and its Member States ³	5 November 2025 ³
India ³	India NDC (2031 to 2035) ³	24 April 2026 ³
South Africa ³	South Africa's Second NDC ³	24 October 2025 ³
United Kingdom ⁴	2035 NDC ⁴	Submitted 30 January 2025 ⁴

Headline targets are stated by each party

Each NDC sets out its own target in its own terms. The UK's 2035 NDC, published and submitted on 30 January 2025, commits to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81% on 1990 levels by 2035, excluding international aviation and shipping emissions ⁴.

Each party chooses its own base year, scope and form of target, so two NDCs cannot be compared without reading both documents. The registry holds the full text of each one ³.

Revising an NDC between cycles

Article 4.11 says a party may at any time adjust its existing NDC with a view to raising its level of ambition ¹. The UNFCCC describes this as a change a party may make at any time to its existing NDC ². The provision covers upward adjustment. The Agreement text read for this page sets no separate procedure for lowering a target ¹.

A revised NDC goes into the same public registry ^1,3. Some parties file a revision and a new NDC in the same period. Iceland, for example, has a 2030 revision dated 25 September 2025 and a 2035 NDC dated 30 September 2025 in the registry ³.

Withdrawal from the Agreement

Article 28 lets a party withdraw at any time after three years from the date the Agreement entered into force for it, by written notification to the Depositary ¹. The withdrawal takes effect one year after the Depositary receives the notice, or on a later date set in the notice ¹.

The UN Secretary-General, as Depositary, circulated notification C.N.71.2025.TREATIES-XXVII.7.d on 27 January 2025 ⁵. It stated that the withdrawal of the United States of America shall take effect on 27 January 2026 ⁵.

Common questions

How often must countries submit an NDC?

Every five years under Article 4.9 of the Paris Agreement ¹.

Is an NDC legally binding?

Article 4.2 obliges parties to prepare, communicate and maintain NDCs and pursue domestic measures. It describes the contribution as one the party intends to achieve ¹.

Where can I read a country's NDC?

In the UNFCCC NDC Registry, which lists each document with its date and status ³.

Can a country change its NDC before the next cycle?

Yes. Article 4.11 lets a party adjust its NDC at any time to raise its ambition ¹.

When did the US withdrawal take effect?

The Depositary notice said 27 January 2026 ⁵.

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Sources

How official positions change on the record
Formal routes for changing a recorded commitment: correcting Parliament, dropping an assurance, adjusting an NDC, leaving a treaty, updating a forecast.
Official commitment trackers compared
How India's OAMS, Kenya's and Ghana's committees, the NDC Registry, UN commitment platforms and OGP's reporting mechanism track delivery of promises.
How public commitments are recorded
Where public commitments are officially recorded: parliamentary assurances, written statements, NDC and UN registries, OGP plans and company filings.
UN voluntary commitments explained
How the UN records voluntary commitments from governments, NGOs and companies, what the Ocean Conference registry holds and what follow-up shows.