India, Nov. 11 -- In the run-up to COP30 - it began in Belem, Brazil, on Monday - the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) projected a 70% chance that the average warming over the next five years will exceed 1.5 degrees above the pre-industrial level. The 1.5-degree target adopted in the Paris Agreement refers to the average warming over the long term (20 years). But the WMO's projected short-term spike is a portent of the accelerating climate crisis, and serves as a reminder of both the vast gap between action taken and action needed to contain warming within the 1.5-degree cap - which avoids cataclysmic effects - and the little time left to bridge this gap. It is against this backdrop that nations must drastically expand ambitions under the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) framework and commit to shorter timelines on energy transition and emission reduction through other means. The NDCs not only reiterate countries' commitment to the climate goals in these times of fractured geopolitics, but they are also, primarily, benchmarks that make climate action measurable and thereby an instrument of accountability. "Ratcheting up" ambitions, as envisioned in the Paris Agreement, has become even more urgent after the US - one of the largest absolute and per capita emitters - withdrew from the landmark climate pact. Given the Trump administration's focus on reviving domestic manufacturing, aided by coal-fired power generation, the burden to offset the impact of US emissions also falls on the global community. However, COP30 began with 109 countries having submitted their NDC 3.0 - for action post 2030 - and 89 still to submit. India is among those whose NDC 3.0 is pending submission. While the country has recorded good progress on its last NDC iteration, expectations are that it will assume the mantle of global climate leadership along with China and the European Union, given it is both a large absolute emitter and remains extremely vulnerable to the climate crisis. A revised NDC with new action points and instruments of climate action would also mean policy clarity for business activity at home, especially in the renewables and climate-tech space. At the same time, India and others in the developing world must keep up pressure on rich nations to commit significantly larger funding for climate action, faster. The substance of some of their NDCs 3.0 falls quite short of the action that is required of them. COP30 should become the forum where they are held to account as well....