Showing 1 - 9 of 9
Environment on the up as world prospers
Oped, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 22/04/2025
» As we celebrate Earth Day today, it's tempting to believe that the world is on the brink of environmental collapse. We are constantly inundated by dire predictions of climate catastrophe and warnings about the planet's imminent destruction. But this is misleading. Rather than panic, we should take a moment to appreciate the remarkable progress we've made in improving the environment -- and acknowledge that a key factor is prosperity.
Climate debate is being silenced by the UN's bias
Oped, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 14/03/2025
» The United Nations is at a crossroads. US President Donald Trump pulled out of the World Health Organization (WHO), cut funding for the UN's Climate Convention, and more withdrawals are likely. He calls the UN an "underperformer", suggesting it is a swamp to be drained.
Climate policies are getting far too expensive
Oped, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 02/11/2024
» As climate policy increasingly drives up living costs with next to no results, voters are becoming wearier of expansive green promises. We can only hope this backlash could lead to better, cheaper and more effective measures.
The transition to green energy that wasn't
Oped, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 06/09/2024
» Despite much hype, the much-vaunted green energy transition away from fossil fuels isn't happening. Achieving a meaningful shift with current policies turns out to be unaffordably costly. We need to drastically change policy direction.
Eyeing climate change, follow science, warily
Oped, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 06/06/2024
» We endlessly hear the flawed assertion that because climate change is real, we should "follow the science" and end fossil fuel use. We hear this claim from politicians who favour swift carbon cuts, and from natural scientists themselves, as when the editor-in-chief of Nature insists "The science is clear -- fossil fuels must go".
Politicising novel solutions to climate change
News, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 13/05/2024
» Climate studies are increasingly becoming politicised. Harvard University recently shut down a key geoengineering research project because of intense backlash, despite the college's aspiration to become "a global beacon for climate change."
Why solar and wind are not winning
Oped, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 20/04/2024
» Despite us constantly being told that solar and wind are now the cheapest forms of electricity, governments around the world needed to spend US$1.8 trillion (66.3 trillion baht) on the green transition last year. "Wind and solar are already significantly cheaper than coal and oil" is how US President Joe Biden conveniently justifies spending hundreds of billions of dollars on green subsidies. Indeed, arguing that wind and solar is cheapest is a meme employed by green lobbyists, activists and politicians around the world. Unfortunately, as the $1.8 trillion price-tag shows, the claim is wildly deceptive.
COP28 won't admit real cost of net zero
News, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 06/12/2023
» The spectacle of another annual climate conference is getting underway in Dubai. Like Kabuki theater, performative set pieces lead from one to the other: politicians and celebrities arrive by private jets; speakers predict imminent doom; hectoring NGOs cast blame; political negotiations become fraught and inevitably go overtime; and finally: the signing of a new agreement that participants hope and pretend will make a difference.
Reducing emissions not so easy
Oped, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 10/11/2021
» At the UN Climate Summit in Glasgow (COP26), most leaders of rich nations are eagerly promising to decarbonise their economies by mid-century or even sooner. Yet, it is highly questionable if they and their successors will want or be able to keep their promise. Even worse, growth-reducing climate policies won't convince developing countries who need to lift their populations out of poverty and whose emissions matter most this century.