Lomborg participates in the How the Light Gets In philosophy festival

Despite intense climate worries, electorates have been unwilling to spend the trillions needed to cut emissions dramatically. That is why climate campaigners have increasingly pursued a new strategy by forcing climate policy through courts. Across the world, the UN now counts at least 1550 such climate cases in 38 countries, including Australia, often filed by young people invoking a fear for their ­future. Unfortunately, such cases undermine democracy, harm the poor, and sidetrack us from smarter ways to fix the climate.

Freezing temperatures in the U.S. Northeast have pushed up heating costs, creating serious stress for many Americans. Although the rich world’s energy poor are largely forgotten in discussions about climate policies, they bear an unfair burden for well-meaning proposals. That reality is being laid bare this icy winter as energy and electricity prices surge.

The UN Climate Summit in Lima achieved little, just like the previous meetings for more than 20 years. As the saying goes, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”