Agreeing to a final text to wrap up COP28 proved to be a tough job for the climate summit president Sultan al-Jaber. But, in the end, he did it. Inevitably, the result sparked markedly different reactions. Some hailed the summit as ‘historic’ because everyone signed up to transitioning away from fossil fuels in an attempt to reach global net zero emissions by 2050. Others lambasted the final agreement for being weak because it failed to commit countries to the tougher job of phasing out fossil fuels altogether.

Matt McDonald assesses whether the commitments are enough as climate change gathers pace while Alaa Al Khourdajie, Chris Bataille and Lars J Nilsson explain how COP28 missed the chance to set a firm, scientifically-backed benchmark for future fossil fuel use. Looking at the conference through an African lens, Bamidele Olajide writes that the continent gained a great deal from taking a strong position in several negotiations.