Climate Action 2026

The recent change in the climate conversation has been stunning. Catastrophism is out, pragmatism is in. It was just three months ago when Bill Gates shocked climate advocates by writing a memo extolling climate pragmatism in advance of COP30 in Brazil. Although climate change will have serious consequences—particularly for people in the poorest countries—it will not lead to humanity’s demise. People will be able to live and thrive in most places on Earth for the foreseeable future. Emissions projections have gone down, and with the right policies and investments, innovation will allow us to drive emissions down much further.

Unfortunately, the doomsday outlook is causing much of the climate community to focus too much on near-term emissions goals, and it’s diverting resources from the most effective things we should be doing to improve life in a warming world.