Smart Development Targets

After the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic, the world will be spending trillions of dollars to get us back on track. Increasingly, campaigners and influential policymakers demand this spending be tied to climate goals. IMF chairwoman Kristalina Georgieva urges “We must do everything in our power to make it a green recovery,” and U.S. Democrats, the European Commission and many other countries are pushing ”Green New Deals.” These could cost us tens of trillions of dollars, and, unfortunately, will be one of the worst ways to help us recover.

Hours before Donald Trump announced that the US would be quitting the Paris carbon-cutting treaty, UN Secretary General António Guterres took to the President's preferred medium, Twitter, to declare that climate action is “unstoppable”.

The clear message, reinforced by leaders from the European Union and China, is that the rest of the world will continue with the Paris Treaty without US involvement. Their resolve is quickly going to smash into three incontrovertible truths.

Political crises, scandals, and dysfunction continue to dominate the global news agenda. Unsurprisingly, therefore, many people missed the United Kingdom’s announcement last month that it will spend £600 million ($779 million) to provide 20 million more women and girls in the developing world with access to family planning.