Short answers, pulled from the story.
A nationally determined contribution, or NDC, is a country's commitment under the Paris Agreement to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. It includes the policies and measures a country intends to use to meet the agreement's temperature goals.
Countries must update their NDCs every five years. The Paris Agreement requires all 195 Parties to prepare, communicate, and maintain these commitments on that recurring cycle, with the current round called NDC 3.0.
Switzerland became the first nation to submit its INDC, on the 27th of February 2015. Switzerland reported a temperature rise of 1.75 degrees Celsius since 1864 and pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions 50 percent by 2030.
An INDC, or intended nationally determined contribution, was the non-binding, voluntary pledge a country submitted before the Paris Agreement, before 2015. Once a country ratified the agreement, its INDC became its first NDC, a more committed pledge that is still not legally binding.
Under current trends, the probability of staying below 2 degrees Celsius of warming is only 5 percent. If every country met its NDC and continued meeting it after 2030, that probability would rise to 26 percent.
As of the 25th of February 2026, 133 countries had submitted a new NDC for the current round, known as NDC 3.0. The official submission deadline for this round had been set for February 2025, though most countries submitted late.