At The Week, I have a column responding to some overheated optimism about how well-prepared we are to fight climate change.

While we have made advances in the deployment of renewables, especially in the developed world, that is only one component of the challenge ahead. There are still hundreds of millions of people without electrical access, a need that will not always be met with the cleanest sources.

We are also lagging behind on adapting to the climate change already occurring. The most important takeaway is that there is no guarantee the progress we have made so far is going to continue unabated into the future:

Energy markets, however, are notoriously hard to predict. Anyone who says with confidence he or she knows what the world's energy mix will look like in the next decade is trying to sell you something. A more nuanced framing of these issues should not invite undue pessimism, but merely be truthful about how long the road ahead is.

You can read the whole thing at The Week.