The green agenda is too expensive: We need a better way to fight climate change

Across the world, politicians are now promising climate policies costing tens of trillions of dollars – money we don’t have and resources that are desperately needed elsewhere.

Yet, climate campaigners tell us, if we don’t spend everything on climate now, nothing else matters, because climate change threatens our very civilization. As President Biden says: climate change is "an existential threat".

America’s new United Nations ambassador, Kelly Craft, has an opportunity to help refocus global development efforts, using US clout to ensure every dollar spent does more to help people and the planet.

Craft is taking her position at a pivotal time, four years after the ratification of the

Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, the development agenda up to the year 2030. With little more than one decade left, implementation desperately needs shaking up.

From the news to late-night shows, much of the media makes it sound as if renewables are on the verge of taking over. But that’s far from reality. In 2019, the latest complete year of data, 81% of the world’s energy supply came from fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency. Even if all nations were to fulfill their current climate promises, the IEA estimates that fossil-fuel use would still make up 73% by 2040.