diff --git a/doc/sphinx/source/changelog.rst b/doc/sphinx/source/changelog.rst
index 6d07272838..a2ef31c2b3 100644
--- a/doc/sphinx/source/changelog.rst
+++ b/doc/sphinx/source/changelog.rst
@@ -3,6 +3,102 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
+.. _changelog-v2-3-0:
+
+v2.3.0
+------
+
+This release includes
+
+Bug fixes
+~~~~~~~~~
+
+-  Indent block to pick up and raise exception if cmorizer data not found (TierX dir is not there) (`#1877 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/1877>`__) `Valeriu Predoi <https://github.com/valeriupredoi>`__
+-  Skip recipe filler tests until we have a new release since GA tests are failing (`#2089 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2089>`__) `Valeriu Predoi <https://github.com/valeriupredoi>`__
+-  Fixed broken link to contributions in README (`#2102 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2102>`__) `Manuel Schlund <https://github.com/schlunma>`__
+-  Fix recipe filler for the case the variable doesn't contain short_name (`#2104 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2104>`__) `Valeriu Predoi <https://github.com/valeriupredoi>`__
+-  Add fix for iris longitude bug to ClimWIP (`#2107 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2107>`__) `Lukas Brunner <https://github.com/lukasbrunner>`__
+-  Update for outdated link to reference Déandreis et al. (2014). (`#2076 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2076>`__) `katjaweigel <https://github.com/katjaweigel>`__
+-  Fixed recipes for ESMValCore 2.3.0 (`#2203 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2203>`__) `Manuel Schlund <https://github.com/schlunma>`__
+-  Fix the WFDE5 cmorizer (`#2211 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2211>`__) `Rémi Kazeroni <https://github.com/remi-kazeroni>`__
+-  Fix broken CMORizer log message if no Tier directory exists (`#2207 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2207>`__) `jmrgonza <https://github.com/jmrgonza>`__
+-  Fix bug in ClimWIP basic test recipe when plotting (`#2225 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2225>`__) `Lukas Brunner <https://github.com/lukasbrunner>`__
+-  Fix bug in ClimWIP advanced test recipe when plotting (`#2227 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2227>`__) `Lukas Brunner <https://github.com/lukasbrunner>`__
+-  Adjust time range for the `WDFE5` dataset in the `recipe_check_obs.yml` (`#2232 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2232>`__) `Rémi Kazeroni <https://github.com/remi-kazeroni>`__
+-  Fix plot and provenance of recipe_consecdrydays (`#2244 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2244>`__) `Bouwe Andela <https://github.com/bouweandela>`__
+
+Documentation
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+-  Improving the README.md file with a more appealing look and bit more info (`#2065 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2065>`__) `Valeriu Predoi <https://github.com/valeriupredoi>`__
+-  Update plot title martin18grl (`#2080 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2080>`__) `katjaweigel <https://github.com/katjaweigel>`__
+-  Update contribution guidelines (`#2031 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2031>`__) `Bouwe Andela <https://github.com/bouweandela>`__
+-  Update links in pull request template to point to latest documentation (`#2083 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2083>`__) `Bouwe Andela <https://github.com/bouweandela>`__
+-  Update release schedule (`#2081 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2081>`__) `Bouwe Andela <https://github.com/bouweandela>`__
+-  Updates to contribution guidelines (`#2092 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2092>`__) `Bouwe Andela <https://github.com/bouweandela>`__
+-  Update documentation for ERA5 with new varibles (`#2111 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2111>`__) `Lukas Brunner <https://github.com/lukasbrunner>`__
+-  Add OSX installation instructions to docs (`#2115 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2115>`__) `Barbara Vreede <https://github.com/bvreede>`__
+-  Instructions to use pre-installed versions on HPC clusters (`#2197 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2197>`__) `Rémi Kazeroni <https://github.com/remi-kazeroni>`__
+-  Add functional Autoassess diagnostics: land surface metrics: permafrost, soil moisture, surface radiation (`#2170 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2170>`__) `Valeriu Predoi <https://github.com/valeriupredoi>`__
+-  Add citation info in `recipe_eady_growth_rate.yml` (`#2188 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2188>`__) `sloosvel <https://github.com/sloosvel>`__
+-  Update version number to 2.3.0 (`#2213 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2213>`__) `Klaus Zimmermann <https://github.com/zklaus>`__
+-  Update release schedule for 2.3.0 (`#2247 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2247>`__) `Klaus Zimmermann <https://github.com/zklaus>`__
+-  Changelog update to v2.3.0 (`#2214 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2214>`__) `Klaus Zimmermann <https://github.com/zklaus>`__
+
+Diagnostics
+~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+-  Added figures 8 and 10 to recipe_bock20jgr.yml (`#2074 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2074>`__) `Manuel Schlund <https://github.com/schlunma>`__
+-  Add hydrological forcing comparison recipe (`#2013 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2013>`__) `Stef Smeets <https://github.com/stefsmeets>`__
+-  Added recipe for Meehl et al., Sci. Adv. (2020) (`#2094 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2094>`__) `Manuel Schlund <https://github.com/schlunma>`__
+-  Add GlobWat recipe and diagnostic  (`#1808 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/1808>`__) `Banafsheh Abdollahi <https://github.com/babdollahi>`__
+-  Add ClimWIP recipe to reproduce Brunner et al. 2019 (`#2109 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2109>`__) `Lukas Brunner <https://github.com/lukasbrunner>`__
+-  Update Climwip recipe to reproduce brunner2020esd (`#1859 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/1859>`__) `Ruth Lorenz <https://github.com/ruthlorenz>`__
+-  Update recipe_thermodyn_diagtool.yml: code improvements and more user options (`#1391 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/1391>`__) `ValerioLembo <https://github.com/ValerioLembo>`__
+-  Remove model AWI-CM-1-1-MR from recipe_impact.yml (`#2238 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2238>`__) `Bouwe Andela <https://github.com/bouweandela>`__
+-  PV capacity factor for ESMValTool GMD paper  (`#2153 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2153>`__) `katjaweigel <https://github.com/katjaweigel>`__
+
+Observational and re-analysis dataset support
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+-  Cmorize wfde5 (`#1991 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/1991>`__) `mwjury <https://github.com/mwjury>`__
+-  Make cmorizer utils funcs public in utilities.py and add some numpy style docstrings (`#2206 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2206>`__) `Valeriu Predoi <https://github.com/valeriupredoi>`__
+-  CMORizer for CLARA-AVHRR cloud data (`#2101 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2101>`__) `Axel Lauer <https://github.com/axel-lauer>`__
+-  Update of ESACCI-CLOUD CMORizer (`#2144 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2144>`__) `Axel Lauer <https://github.com/axel-lauer>`__
+
+Automatic testing
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+-  Force latest Python in empty environment in conda install CI test (`#2069 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2069>`__) `Valeriu Predoi <https://github.com/valeriupredoi>`__
+-  Removed imports from private sklearn modules and improved test coverage of custom_sklearn.py (`#2078 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2078>`__) `Manuel Schlund <https://github.com/schlunma>`__
+-  Move private _(global)_stock_cube from esmvacore.preprocessor._regrid to cmorizer (`#2087 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2087>`__) `Valeriu Predoi <https://github.com/valeriupredoi>`__
+-  Try mamba install esmvaltool (`#2125 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2125>`__) `Valeriu Predoi <https://github.com/valeriupredoi>`__
+-  Reinstate OSX Github Action tests (`#2110 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2110>`__) `Valeriu Predoi <https://github.com/valeriupredoi>`__
+-  Pin mpich to avoid default install of 3.4.1 and 3.4.2 with external_0 builds (`#2220 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2220>`__) `Valeriu Predoi <https://github.com/valeriupredoi>`__
+-  Include test sources in distribution (`#2234 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2234>`__) `Klaus Zimmermann <https://github.com/zklaus>`__
+-  Pin `iris<3.0.4` to ensure we still (sort of) support Python 3.6 (`#2246 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2246>`__) `Valeriu Predoi <https://github.com/valeriupredoi>`__
+
+Installation
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+-  Fix conda build by skipping documentation test (`#2058 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2058>`__) `Javier Vegas-Regidor <https://github.com/jvegasbsc>`__
+-  Update pin on esmvalcore pick up esmvalcore=2.3.0 (`#2200 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2200>`__) `Valeriu Predoi <https://github.com/valeriupredoi>`__
+-  Pin Python to 3.9 for development installation (`#2208 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2208>`__) `Bouwe Andela <https://github.com/bouweandela>`__
+
+Improvements
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+-  Add EUCP and IS-ENES3 projects to config-references (`#2066 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2066>`__) `Peter Kalverla <https://github.com/Peter9192>`__
+-  Fix flake8 tests on CircleCI (`#2070 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2070>`__) `Bouwe Andela <https://github.com/bouweandela>`__
+-  Added recipe filler. (`#1707 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/1707>`__) `Lee de Mora <https://github.com/ledm>`__
+-  Update use of fx vars to new syntax  (`#2145 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2145>`__) `sloosvel <https://github.com/sloosvel>`__
+-  Add recipe for climate impact research (`#2072 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2072>`__) `Peter Kalverla <https://github.com/Peter9192>`__
+-  Update references "master" to "main" (`#2172 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2172>`__) `Axel Lauer <https://github.com/axel-lauer>`__
+-  Force git to ignore VSCode workspace files (`#2186 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2186>`__) `Javier Vegas-Regidor <https://github.com/jvegasbsc>`__
+-  Update to new ESMValTool logo (`#2168 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2168>`__) `Axel Lauer <https://github.com/axel-lauer>`__
+-  Python cmorizers for CDR1 and CDR2 ESACCI H2O (TCWV=prw) data. (`#2152 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2152>`__) `katjaweigel <https://github.com/katjaweigel>`__
+-  Remove obsolete conda package (closes #2100) (`#2103 <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/pull/2103>`__) `Klaus Zimmermann <https://github.com/zklaus>`__
+
 .. _changelog-v2-2-0:
 
 v2.2.0
diff --git a/esmvaltool/utils/draft_release_notes.py b/esmvaltool/utils/draft_release_notes.py
index 1ec9690e39..fb28a778fe 100644
--- a/esmvaltool/utils/draft_release_notes.py
+++ b/esmvaltool/utils/draft_release_notes.py
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@
 }
 
 PREVIOUS_RELEASE = {
-    'esmvalcore': datetime.datetime(2020, 10, 13, 00),
-    'esmvaltool': datetime.datetime(2020, 10, 26, 00),
+    'esmvalcore': datetime.datetime(2021, 7, 23, 00),
+    'esmvaltool': datetime.datetime(2021, 7, 27, 00),
 }
 LABELS = {
     'esmvalcore': (