Global stocktake
The Paris Agreement process for assessing collective progress towards its goals.
Example
Its outcomes inform countries when updating subsequent climate contributions.
The catch
It assesses collective progress, not a simple league table of national compliance.
Related terms
Paris Agreement, 1.5°C goal, Carbon pricing, Carbon tax, Climate justice, Conference of the Parties
In more depth
Global stocktake, explained.
The global stocktake is timed so its findings land before countries submit their next round of national plans. That sequence is the ratchet. Each stocktake should show the distance between what has been pledged and what the Paris Agreement goals require, giving the following nationally determined contribution a reason to aim higher.
Evidence comes in from IPCC assessments, national reports and observer submissions. Technical dialogues then test that evidence before governments adopt a decision by consensus. The first stocktake concluded at the UN climate conference in Dubai with a call to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems. Quote the decision text when you cite an outcome, because negotiated wording often turns on a single verb.