The Emissions Gap Report 2021: The Heat Is On shows that the new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), combined with other mitigation pledges, put the world on track for a global temperature rise of 2.7°C by end of the century, even if all new unconditional commitments are met. Additional implementation of net-zero targets could reduce global warming by another 0.5°C, but these plans are currently ambiguous and not fully reflected in NDCs. To keep global warming below 1.5°C this century, the world needs to urgently put additional policies and action in place to almost halve annual greenhouse gas emissions in the next eight years.