As politicians prepare to jet into Belem, Brazil, for the 30th annual United Nations climate meeting, philanthropist Bill Gates has provided a straightforward insight: Climate summits like COP30 should prioritize what truly improves human lives and not just chase reductions in emissions or temperatures. His point is both refreshingly overdue and, frankly, obvious common sense.

I have long argued that policymakers should always ask: What's the smartest way to do the most good with limited resources? For billions of people in the developing world, tackling immediate challenges like poverty and disease outweighs chasing distant temperature goals.

In poor countries, parents are not kept awake by concern about achieving a 0.1 degrees Celsius temperature reduction in a century. They worry whether their children will survive a bout with malaria or get a decent education. As Gates points out, “the biggest problems are poverty and disease, just as they always have been.” Every year, more than 7.5 million people in poorer countries die from illnesses that can be very cheaply prevented or managed. Smart investments in health, nutrition and education could every year save over 4 million people, while also building growth and resilience for the future.