Extreme weather events are increasingly affecting communities, ecosystems and economic activity across many regions. The OECD’s Climate Action Monitor tracks emissions trends, climate-related hazards and mitigation policies, providing comparable evidence to assess progress towards countries' climate objectives. The 2026 edition highlights more frequent and intense heatwaves and prolonged drought, with growing implications for health, infrastructure and economic activity. It also examines how recent emissions trends and medium-term targets relate to longer-term national objectives. While mitigation policies have continued to expand across all regions over the past decade, progress has slowed, and significant differences persist in the scope, stringency and composition of countries’ policy mixes.
The Climate Action Monitor 2026
Introduction
Key figures
126%
more days with above-average temperatures were recorded per year in 2021-2025 than in the 1981-2010 reference period.
31%
increase on average in the adoption of climate policies across the world since 2015, combined with a 4% increase in the number of high-stringency measures.
But, only 1%
increase in climate mitigation policy effort in 2025, confirming a stalling yet continued commitment to mitigation.
Heat exposure is rising across the world
Days with above-average temperatures have more than doubled on average since the early 1980s, increasing in every region. This increase has been particularly pronounced in Latin America and the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa, where the frequency of such days has tripled or more. For communities and businesses, rising exposure to heat raises important concerns for health, working conditions, infrastructure resilience and other economic impacts. Regional data help put these risks into context by showing how exposure has evolved over time and where the most significant increases have occurred.
National mitigation policies have expanded since 2015
Driven by a 31% increase in the adoption of climate policies and a 4% increase in the number of high-stringency policy measures, national climate mitigation policy effort across the world increased by 66% since 2015. In 2025, however, policy effort increased by only 1%. While this indicates continued progress it is well below the pace of policy expansion observed in previous years.
Mitigation policies have expanded in all regions but at different rates and levels
Climate policies have continued to expand across all regions, yet progress in climate mitigation efforts has been uneven, and substantial differences in policy effort persist across regions and levels of development. The consequences of growing disparities in climate action go beyond national borders, as they weaken the effectiveness of global mitigation efforts. At the same time, increases in policy effort should not be interpreted as equivalent reductions in emissions. Outcomes depend not only on the breadth and stringency of policies, but also on how policies are implemented and enforced, as well as on the economic, technological and institutional contexts in which they operate.
