Vanuatu officially submitted its Nationally Determined Contribution NDC 3.0 to the UNFCCC on 24 September 2025, fully meeting its obligations under the Paris Agreement.

Grounded in more than 65 existing sector policies, Vanuatu's NDC for the period of 2025-2035 contains 219 measurable targets covering Mitigation (35) , Adaptation (132) and Loss & Damage (52), and was endorsed by the Council of Ministers (CoM) and the National Advisory Board on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction (NAB).

While Vanuatu is already net negative with its forests and oceans absorbing more carbon than it emits, Vanuatu’s NDC commits to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 68.3% of current levels by 2035, with a quantified reduction commitment of 1,608kt of CO2 equivalent.

Highlighting the major gaps in climate finance, the NDC outlines the resources required over the next decade of approximately 3 billion US dollars to keep the country safe, resilient and able to respond to worsening and irreversible impacts.

Vanuatu’s NDC identifies the most appropriate sources and modalities of finance for each target, sourced primarily in grants from the multilateral development banks, bilateral support, the global climate funds and other innovative mechanisms like insurance, levies and court damage payments. Importantly the NDC establishes Vanuatu’s Climate Finance Country Platform to ensure climate finance flows enable bottom-up country-led planning and action. The Country Platform enables the streamlining of diverse finance sources—public and private, international and domestic—toward the implementation of Vanuatu’s highest and nationally determined priorities.

Of critical note, Vanuatu’s new NDC fully adheres to the outcomes of the Global Stocktake, and the legal obligations clarified by the Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice on State responsibilities for climate change, and the full integration of gender equality, youth engagement, and human rights to ensure inclusive climate action.

The full NDC can be accessed on the UNFCCC's NDC Registry here