Must-Read: Camilla Toulmin: Time [for Bjorn Lomborg] to Walk Away from Once Credible Theories Now Shown to Be Untrue
: Time [for Bjorn Lomborg] to Walk Away from Once Credible Theories Now Shown to Be Untrue: “Sir, Bjorn Lomborg’s analysis of emission-cutting pledges made by rich and poor countries…
…before the current UN climate summit in Paris has been comprehensively discredited, yet he continues to flog a dead horse and the Financial Times, surprisingly, continues to print articles based on it…. The Paris pledges show they have the potential to keep the global temperature rise over the coming century to about 2.7C, rather than the 4-5C that would result from unconstrained fossil fuel burning. Yes, implementing the pledges will cost money; but again, properly conducted economic analyses suggest the costs of not doing this would be far higher, even in strictly economic terms…. I can tell Dr Lomborg that he does not speak for the majority in the developing world. Many developing countries are already building a low-carbon economy. They plan to skip the carbon-intense phase from which more developed nations are endeavouring to escape. Every developing country is present at the Paris talks and most are actively working towards an ambitious agreement, because they see it as squarely in their national interest. Through history, occasions arise when once-credible theories are shown to be untrue. It is not easy for proponents to admit as much. Dr Lomborg has had a good run with his theory that tackling climate change would harm developing countries. But it is now time for him to walk away and admit that he was wrong, because reality has now demonstrably left him behind.