Beyond billion-dollar climate pledges and global summits

Hindustan Times

2 days ago

In a world grappling with worsening floods, extreme heatwaves, and wildfires from Canada to Greece, the urgent need for climate action is no longer up for debate. Yet every year, world leaders and bureaucrats jet into climate conventions, promising billions to tackle the crisis, only for most pledges to go unfulfilled or misallocated. As COP summits multiply and climate financing targets remain unmet, such as the long-delayed $100 billion annual goal from rich to developing nations, questions are being raised about whether we are investing more in talking about solutions than actually delivering them. Climate crisis (AP)
While international climate diplomacy has its place, it is time we explored alternative mechanisms that are leaner, faster, and more rooted in practical, community-led, and technology-driven strategies. Climate change is a global issue, but solutions need not be solely globalised. Often, the most effective actions are local, replicable, and scalable, bypassing the bureaucratic sprawl of mega-conventions.
Community-led adaptation: Cheaper, smarter, resilient: In Bangladesh, a country highly vulnerable to rising sea levels and cyclones, community-based adaptation programmes have proven far more cost-effective than large international aid projects. Villagers are building floating gardens, cyclone-resistant homes, and early warning systems with the help of local NGOs and modest funding. The cost of a locally-built flood-resistant home in coastal Bangladesh is around $500–$700, while international climate financing proposals for infrastructure often run into the millions per project.
In Kenya, the organisation Shamba Shape Up reaches millions of smallholder farmers via radio and TV, offering agroecological solutions that improve yields and build climate resilience. According to FAO data, investing in agroecology can boost yields by 79% on average and reduce reliance on costly chemical fertilisers. These models work because they empower people directly, rather than waiting for trickle-down results from global declarations.
Solution: Redirect a fraction of international climate funds directly to local governments and NGOs through transparent, small grants mechanisms monitored digitally. For every $1 spent on local adaptation, it is estimated $4–$7 is saved in avoided climate losses (Global Commission on Adaptation, 2019).
Decentralised renewable energy: Leapfrogging fossil dependencies: Despite grand pledges, many developing countries remain tied to coal due to delayed infrastructure funds or foreign investment strings. But decentralised solar grids are changing that equation. In Nigeria, where 85 million people lack access to electricity, companies like Rensource provide solar-powered microgrids, reducing reliance on diesel generators and improving livelihoods.
Globally, the cost of solar has plummeted by 89% in the last decade (IRENA, 2023). Rooftop solar in urban India, off-grid solar in sub-Saharan Africa, and community-owned wind in Denmark show how clean energy can scale faster outside the top-down model.
Solution: Rather than pledging billions for utility-scale plants that take years, climate finance could underwrite local solar installers, offer micro-financing for household panels, and enable public-private partnerships to decentralise energy generation. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that 70% of new electricity access can come from decentralised renewables, not large grids.
Nature-based solutions: Protecting what protects us: Forests, wetlands, and mangroves absorb up to 37% of annual CO₂ emissions. Yet, billions go into carbon trading schemes that are often riddled with verification issues, while natural ecosystems are being lost at a rapid pace. In Indonesia, mangrove restoration has helped mitigate storm surges and support fisheries, costing less and providing more co-benefits than concrete sea walls.
In Rwanda, the Gishwati-Mukura forest landscape restoration project not only sequesters carbon but has also improved biodiversity and water quality for nearby communities. Such solutions blend ecology and economy.
Solution: Climate conventions should prioritise direct funding for conservation and restoration projects with clear ecological metrics. By investing in 20 million hectares of mangroves, we could create up to one million green jobs while storing 3.7 billion tonnes of CO₂ (Global Mangrove Alliance, 2021). These are high-return investments for both people and the planet.
Radical transparency and local carbon tracking: One of the problems with climate finance today is opacity. Pledges are announced in bulk, but the real disbursement is slow, fragmented, and often subject to bureaucratic mismanagement. Moreover, emission tracking is predominantly national, obscuring high-impact pockets of pollution and delaying accountability.
Emerging blockchain platforms and AI tools can offer transparent carbon tracking at the community or corporate level. For instance, Pachama uses satellite imagery and machine learning to verify carbon sequestration in forests. Local governments can now monitor emissions from construction, transport, and waste in real time using smart sensors, allowing targeted policy responses.
Solution: Shift from abstract national-level pledges to community-scale carbon budgeting. Cities like Amsterdam and Seoul are already piloting local climate dashboards. Integrating such tools with open data platforms can democratise accountability.
Climate education and behavioural change: The multiplier effect: No amount of funding can outpace an unengaged public. According to UNEP, lifestyle-related emissions could account for 60% of global emissions by 2050 if left unaddressed. While governments haggle over carbon markets, simple behavioural shifts in plant-based diets, reducing food waste, choosing public transport can have major impact. For instance, cutting food waste globally could reduce emissions by up to 8–10% (Project Drawdown, 2023).
In Japan, schoolchildren are taught sustainability from an early age, while in Finland, circular economy modules are embedded in high school curricula. Contrast this with countries where climate education is still non-existent or politicised.
Solution: Allocate at least 5% of national climate budgets to public education, school curricula reform, and civic campaigns on behaviour change. Climate literacy is a foundation for political pressure, innovation, and collective responsibility.
Climate summits like COP are vital for diplomacy, but they cannot remain the centrepiece of global action. We have had over 28 COPs since 1995. During that time, global CO₂ emissions have risen by over 60%. Despite the 2015 Paris Agreement, we are still on track for 2.7°C of warming by 2100, far beyond the safe threshold of 1.5°C.
Instead of placing our hopes solely in elite negotiation rooms, it is time to put power and funding into the hands of communities, innovators, and local leaders who are already driving change. That does not mean abandoning global collaboration, but reimagining it. The climate crisis demands bottom-up mobilisation to match top-down commitments. We already have many of the tools; we just need to rewire the system that delivers them.
As the world braces for yet another climate summit, let us not ask merely what was pledged. Let us ask: what was done, and who was empowered to do it? That may be the only measure of success that really matters.
This article is authored by Ananya Raj Kakoti, scholar, international relations, Jawaharlal Nehru University.