Beyond Targets: Demystifying Long-Term Climate Strategies

As the Paris Agreement turns 10, one of its most transformative innovations deserves a spotlight: long-term low-emissions development strategies (LT-LEDS). What began as voluntary tools for a handful of countries has evolved into a cornerstone of global climate planning, helping nations worldwide navigate complex decisions and align climate ambition with development priorities.

Our new flagship brief, Beyond Targets: Demystifying Long-Term Climate Strategies, examines how LT-LEDS have evolved over the past decade and how they are adapting to the dynamics of the transition required to address climate change. This transition demands policy and planning that remain agile and responsive, while integrating critical socio-economic considerations. The evolution of LT-LEDS has been marked by important shifts: from least-cost decarbonization to strategies that embed development priorities; from one-off analyses to iterative processes; and from focusing on international commitments to enabling governance systems fit for transition.

Along the way, some persistent myths have been left behind, misconceptions that limit impact and ambition. Our brief debunks five of the most common ones:

(1) an LTS is only “about climate change”;

(2) it belongs exclusively to climate experts;

(3) it is primarily a modelling exercise;

(4) it focuses on distant end-states rather than present decisions; and

(5) it must be an “all or nothing” undertaking.

This deep reflection on how LT-LEDS have evolved and why they matter today is important as we shift global attention to turn ambition into action by linking climate goals with economic opportunity, social progress, and practical implementation.

Read the full brief here: Beyond Targets: Demystifying Long-Term Climate Strategies