In global environmental talks in 2023, the focus across nearly all issue areas was funding implementation and reviewing performance. The year also saw a lot of stocktaking, from assessing progress toward the SDGs at their halfway point to the first global stocktake of climate action at UNFCCC COP28.
This report shares insights gained from observing talks on the many areas of environment and sustainable development, including the SDGs, climate change, biodiversity, chemicals, forests and land.
It highlights the adoption of the treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction and the Global Framework on Chemicals, and advances in the negotiations towards a plastics treaty. But, it also identifies missed opportunities to advance the SDGs, climate action and chemical governance.