My grandfather in India only finished high school before starting his career in a factory. My father studied engineering and then started a small business. For my part, I was able to complete my PhD in Chemistry and I now live in London and work for a multinational company. It is a story of growth and upward social mobility, which is not uncommon. Millions of people around the world have experienced something similar, and many more have witnessed a dramatic improvement in the quality of life of their families over the past few decades. But will this become a reality for the billions of people yet to be born on a warming planet? Current trends suggest that the answer is most likely “no”. Let’s look at the Human Development Index, which measures how long and well people live, whether they have access to education, and what their standard of living is. Since 1990, it has been on an upward trajectory, but no more, because there has been a consistent decline in 2020 and 2021.

The factors largely responsible for this development are the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the global economy, as well as greenhouse gases, which are increasing and have already begun to slow down progress. Climate change “really is the biggest threat to future development,” says Achim Steiner, director of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), in an interview with the Zero podcast. “This is a very bleak scenario if we don’t act immediately.” It’s anachronistic to think that “development” is determined by a certain level of per capita income, Steiner says. Rather, it is about the constant pursuit of human progress. This means that today’s development includes not only the satisfaction of basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing, but also access to health care, education and electricity. This also includes ensuring that people are protected from infectious diseases, extreme weather events and other global threats.

This means that preventing catastrophic climate change is now at the center of the development agenda. And that’s what makes climate change “the biggest opportunity,” says Achim Steiner. Fighting climate change means moving from “a path of extraction, pollution and degradation to a new way of growing our economy.” In 2000, the United Nations set eight Millennium Development Goals for 2015. The next set includes 17 sustainable development goals to be achieved by 2030.

Combating climate change features prominently in at least six of these goals, and many more, if achieved, will make the world more resilient to the effects of the climate crisis. That is why the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is the agency responsible for allocating as much money as possible to climate-related projects. He used to focus on using foreign aid from rich countries to improve the lives of the poor, but now his work is expanding. Argentina is a case in point: it remains one of the largest donors to UNDP, but relies on its own support for various environmental and welfare projects.