COP28 Round-up: ‘Who does this text actually serve?’

A summary of key announcements from the 2023 UN climate conference, why they matter and what is still missing

The penultimate day of COP28 started with much ambition, proceeded with the release of the latest draft of the “global stocktake”, and is ending on mixed feelings of hopefulness about some progress on specific areas, and vocal disappointment around others. Among the latter, Alok Sharma, who served as COP26 president, wrote on social media platform X: “It is difficult to see how this text will help to achieve the deep and rapid cut in emissions we need by 2030 to keep 1.5C alive. With so many countries backing clear language on fossil fuel phase-out, who does this text actually serve?”