Stephen C. Smith

Environmental deterioration is probably the most important global development challenge. Climate change is harming many of the world’s poorest people; and far worse impact is already unavoidable; achieving effective resilience and adaptation is growing in urgency. Southern Madagascar is facing the “first famine driven entirely by climate change.” At COP26, various country coalitions have announced initial agreements, notably to stop funding overseas coal plants; reach international assistance targets; cut methane emissions by 30%; and stop forest destruction this decade. The scale and reliability of many commitments were doubted, but the extent of pessimism seems unwarranted.  What has been accomplished so far is partial, but it is significant. Going forward, wider solutions need financing; and while climate mitigation and adaptation financing mechanisms have been established, they face daunting problems: we need better data and better projects; and better implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Even doing that, as a Dec. 2020 UN survey report argued, the almost-achieved $100 billion annual assistance target will need to become a floor, not a ceiling.  Still, we must keep in mind that there is indeed room for optimism – for the results of COP26, but more importantly for the years of work ahead.