Showing 1 - 9 of 9
Climate change discourse takes a new turn
Oped, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 09/02/2026
» What a difference a single year makes. The once-dominant push to radically reshape society to avert climate catastrophe has collapsed. Look at Davos -- the talkfest long dominated by climate advocacy. That consensus has been abandoned by its once strongest proponents.
COP30 must be more focused on human welfare
Oped, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 13/11/2025
» With the United Nations climate summit, COP30, now in full swing in the humid jungle city of Belém, Brazil, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has cut through the noise with a blunt truth: these UN climate gatherings must zero in on lifting human lives, rather than fixating solely on slashing emissions or dialling down global temperatures. It's a perspective that's long overdue yet seems so obvious.
Climate week fanfare hides the poverty gap
Oped, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 24/09/2025
» As world leaders converge on New York for the UN General Assembly and Climate Week, two incompatible visions are about to clash: rich-world elites obsessed with climate change versus developing nations battling poverty, hunger, and disease.
The education policy that can bridge the gap
Oped, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 11/10/2024
» Children's educational test scores are a major cause for concern across the world. Learning plummeted nearly everywhere during the Covid-19 pandemic -- but even before that, standardised test result measures in mathematics, science and reading were heading in the wrong direction.
Rich world raids development funds for climate
Oped, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 27/01/2024
» Too many rich-world politicians and climate campaigners forget that much of the world remains mired in poverty and hunger. Yet, rich countries are increasingly replacing their development aid with climate spending. The World Bank, whose primary goal is to help people out of poverty, has now announced it will divert 45% of its funding toward climate change, shifting some US$40 billion annually away from poverty and hunger.
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.
Why malaria still persists in much of Africa
News, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 12/06/2023
» We think of malaria as a problem faced only by humid, hot countries. But just over a century ago, the disease thrived as far north as Siberia and the Arctic Circle, and was endemic in 36 states of the US. We don't have specific data that far back for Thailand, but back then, malaria is estimated to have killed 2.5 million people each year in the Western Pacific, Middle East and South Asia.
Two education policies to make a difference
News, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 15/05/2023
» One thing that taxpayers and politicians agree on practically everywhere is that more money should be spent on children's education. This seems like a no-brainer: better education means children get a better start in life. But we need to be careful. Many popular educational investments deliver little or no learning, while we rarely hear about the most effective investments.
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.