COP28 initiatives will only reduce emissions if followed through - Dec 2023

Here, the Climate Action Tracker assesses the likely impact of the initiatives on global emissions in 2030, and puts this potential impact in context with the reductions required by 2030 to limit temperature increase to 1.5°C. [...] Given the experience over the last decade with voluntary initiatives and given the very apparent gap between action and the 1.5 °C pathway for 2030, legitimate questions can be asked about the role and significance of these kinds of initiatives. [...] The likely effect on emissions of this initiative is negligible, and it fosters investment into the oil and gas industry, at a time when the sector should be looking at transitioning away from the extraction and processing of fossil fuels. [...] Because of the uncertainty of various dimensions of the initiatives, the arrows in this visual are intentionally not attached to a number but illustrate the order of magnitude of potential effects. [...] Table 1: Visual illustration of the effects of the initiatives in the context of the target gap for 2030.