Many countries will miss a deadline to submit updated climate action plans by 2020 as mandated by the Paris climate pact due to COVID-19 delays, a U.N. report said on Tuesday.

Compliance with the commitment to upgrade climate action plans every five years is seen as important to the success of the 2015 global pact under which nations agreed to hold warming well below 2 degrees Celsius.

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres last week urged action on climate change, saying humanity was waging a suicidal war on nature.

The U.N. Development Programme supports 115 of the 197 countries that signed the 2015 Paris deal through its “Climate Promise” programme which includes many of the world’s poorest nations.

They collectively account for nearly a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and include some high emitters like Nigeria and Mexico.

So far, just eight of the countries the UNDP programme assists including Mongolia and Rwanda have submitted revised climate plans and about 30 are expected to do so by year-end, the report and a U.N. official said.

In January, more than 100 were aiming for the 2020 deadline.

Guest post from Reuters