‘The Skeptical Environmentalist’

Lomborg has challenged widely held beliefs that the state of the environment is worsening [GALLO/GETTY]

Bjorn Lomborg is not afraid to voice his unpopular opinions.

In 2001 he was named one of the 100 Most Influential People by Time magazine after the publication of his controversial book The Skeptical Environmentalist, in which he challenged widely held beliefs that the state of the environment is getting worse, blaming clever marketing and sensational headlines.

In 2004, he founded the Copenhagen Consensus, which tries to prioritise the world’s greatest challenges based on the impact we can make. It begins from the premise that we cannot solve every problem in the world, and asks: Which ones should we fix first? Lomborg summarised his findings in his book How to Spend $50 Billion to Make the World a Better Place.

On Monday’s Riz Khan we speak to this “skeptical environmentalist” about what he thinks the state of the global environment really is and what his priorities are for advancing global welfare using methodologies based on the theories of welfare economics.

Watch this episode of Riz Khan here:

Watch this episode of Riz Khan Street Talk here:

This episode of Riz Khan aired on Monday 23 July 2007.

Don’t miss Riz Khan live at 19:00GMT, when you can call with your questions and comments. Riz Khan is also shown every day at 00:00GMT, 05:00GMT, and 09:30GMT.

Your comments:

Why global warning is solely linked to human industrial activities? How do we explain that Planet Earth went through drastic climates changes long before the industrial revolution? It’s said that even volacanoes cause global warming. How true is this?
Tarik – Morocco

---

To contact us click on ‘Send your feedback’ at the top of the page

Watch Al Jazeera English programmes on YouTube

Join our debates on the Your Views section of the site