In 2009, a group of wealthy nations made a commitment, collectively, to help less developed countries cope with the effects of climate change.

But where the $100 billion in annual grant pledges actually go has been tough to verify.

And critics say that the effort has done little to help the people who need it most.

With support from the

Pulitzer Center, Fred DeSam-Lazero traveled to Senegal to report on efforts to combat climate

change and alleviate poverty. Fisherman Ibrahim Diagné remembers playing soccer on the beach here,

beach that is now the Atlantic Ocean.

He points to a stretch of boulders on the shoreline,

a last line of defense to save properties from being swallowed

by a warming, rising sea.

Many buildings that were once homes, hotels and eateries are now abandoned,

and beyond the bowlers, a more vivid glimpse of the erosion.

There is one short stretch where the raging Atlantic has been tamed.

Today things are going very well.

Theobon Gisei is general manager of the Palm Beach Resort and Spa in an area that attracts many mostly French tourists in this former French colony.

We have 250 rooms and 17 suites.

We're full and not complaining.

In the winter months, guests bask on pristine beaches, protected by a series of stone

seawalls and breakwaters, a 75 million dollar project completed in 2022 and financed by the World Bank.

Without exaggerating, the World Bank.

Without exaggerating, the World Bank saved our business.

It not only saved the beaches, but it allowed us to restore all our activities.

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