Lomborg on Australian radio show 2GB

2013-05-29 By Bjørn Lomborg, in Huffington Post. The UN is pondering which goals to set for the next decades to advance human development and sustainability. A high-level panel including Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and UK Prime Minister David Cameron will be making their recommendations this Friday. They could get a treasure trove of ideas from some of the world's top economists. In a new book, these economists summarize humanity's smartest ideas and best investments.

Today, world leaders and their entourages will disembark from carbon-spewing jets in New York to sign the world’s costliest-ever climate change treaty. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be among them. Lit by the flashbulbs of the world’s press and warmed by their sense of accomplishment, these politicians will pat each other on the back and declare a job well done. The reality is that the so-called >“Paris Treaty” is a hugely expensive way of doing very little.

In their bids to showcase climate leadership at the UN Climate Summit in Glasgow (COP26), leaders of rich nations are once again talking of ambitious carbon reduction targets. President Biden, for example, has reaffirmed his goal of creating “a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and net zero emissions economy by no later than 2050.”