Heat deaths are being hyped, while deaths from the cold are ignored

Over the past 25 years, nearly 1.2 billion people around the world have been lifted out of poverty, while both malnutrition and the risk of death from air pollution have decreased. Taken together, these achievements are nothing short of a miracle. But two global trends now threaten to slow the momentum in reducing poverty.

Announced with much fanfare 11 months ago, the Paris Climate Treaty finally came into force earlier this month – just in time for the election of Donald Trump to potentially render the whole thing moot.

But there’s a bigger problem for climate campaigners than Trump. It’s that the Paris Treaty will in any case have very little effect on temperature change.

It promises to keep temperature rises below 2C. But there is no way any of the Paris promises will get anywhere close to achieving this.

Climate hyperbole abounds. We are being misled about the looming "climate apocalypse," and we’re also misled that a coming green transition will make energy cheaper, societies safer and everyone richer.

We need better information on how to tackle climate change smartly, while ensuring that we have resources to respond to all the other challenges and to invest in growth and development.