View source for Bjørn Lomborg

{{Short description|Danish author (born 1965)}}
{{BLP primary sources|date=September 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Bjørn Lomborg
| image             = Bjørn Lomborg (1) (54350992828).jpg
| caption           = Lomborg in 2025
| birth_date        = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1965|1|6}}
| birth_place       = [[Frederiksberg]], Denmark
| occupation        = Author, professor, visiting professor, think tank director
| fields            = [[Political science]], [[environmental economics]]
| alma_mater        = {{ubl | [[University of Georgia]] | [[Aarhus University]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]]) | [[University of Copenhagen]] ([[PhD]])}}
| workplaces        = [[Aarhus University]],
[[Environmental Assessment Institute]], [[Hoover Institution]], [[Copenhagen Consensus Center]]
| thesis_title      = Simulating social science: the iterated prisoner's dilemma and computer simulations in political science
| thesis_url        = https://worldcat.org/title/464641106
| thesis_year       = 1994
| website           = {{URL|lomborg.com}}
}}

'''Bjørn Lomborg''' ({{IPA|da|ˈpjɶɐ̯ˀn ˈlɔmˌpɒˀ|lang}}; born 6 January 1965) is a Danish political scientist and the president of the [[think tank]] [[Copenhagen Consensus Center]]. He is the former director of the Danish government's [[Environmental Assessment Institute]] (EAI) in [[Copenhagen]]. He became internationally known for his best-selling book ''[[The Skeptical Environmentalist]]'' (2001).<ref name="foreignpolicyblogs">{{cite web |url=http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2013/10/23/a-candid-discussion-with-bjorn-lomborg/ |title=A Candid Discussion with Bjorn Lomborg |first=Reza |last=Akhlaghi |date=23 October 2013 |website=Foreign Policy Blogs |access-date=12 November 2016}}</ref>

In 2002, Lomborg and the Environmental Assessment Institute founded the [[Copenhagen Consensus]]. In 2004, he was listed as one of [[Time 100|''Time's'' 100 most influential people]].

In his subsequent book, [[Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming|''Cool It'']] (2007), and its [[Cool It (film)|film adaptation]], Lomborg outlined his views on [[global warming]], many of which contradict the [[scientific consensus on climate change]]. These views include the claim that the [[Effects of climate change|negative impacts]] are overstated and the opinion that too much emphasis is put on [[climate change mitigation]] at the expense of [[climate change adaptation]]. Lomborg agrees that global warming is real and man-made and will have a serious impact.{{sfn |Cool It |2007 |p=8}}

Lomborg's views and work have attracted scrutiny from the scientific community.<ref name="UCS" /><ref name="pk">{{cite journal |last=Kitcher |first=Philip |date=4 June 2010 |title=The Climate Change Debates |url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/328/5983/1230-a.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/328/5983/1230-a.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=328 |issue=5983 |pages=1230–1234 |doi=10.1126/science.1189312 |bibcode=2010Sci...328.1230K |access-date=10 June 2019 |s2cid=154865206}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web |first=Emmanuel |last=Vincent |date=10 February 2015 |title=Analysis of "The Alarming Thing About Climate Alarmism" |url=https://science.feedback.org/review/wall-street-journal-bjorn-lomborg-alarming-thing-climate-alarmism/ |url-status=live |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=15 March 2026 |website=[[Climate Feedback]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kysar |first=Douglas A. |date=2002 |title=Some Realism about Environmental Skepticism: Bjorn Lomborg's 'The Skeptical Environmentalist' |journal=SSRN Electronic Journal |doi=10.2139/ssrn.323460 |issn=1556-5068|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bodnar |first1=Agnes |last2=Castorina |first2=Rosemary |last3=Desai |first3=Manish |last4=Duramad |first4=Paurene |last5=Fischer |first5=Susan |last6=Klepeis |first6=Neil |last7=Liang |first7=Song |last8=Mehta |first8=Sumi |last9=Naumoff |first9=Kyra |last10=Noth |first10=Elizabeth M. |last11=Schei |first11=Morten |last12=Tian |first12=Linwei |last13=Vork |first13=Kathleen L. |last14=Smith |first14=Kirk R. |date=2004-01-01 |title=Lessons learned from "The Skeptical Environmentalist": an environmental health perspective |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1438463904702643 |journal=International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health |volume=207 |issue=1 |pages=57–67 |doi=10.1078/1438-4639-00265 |pmid=14762975 |bibcode=2004IJHEH.207...57B |issn=1438-4639|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Eckersley |first=Richard |date=2002 |title=The Skeptical Environmentalist: A Sociocultural Perspective |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1023/A:1019673215867 |journal=Global Change and Human Health |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=55–57 |doi=10.1023/A:1019673215867|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He was formally accused of scientific misconduct over the book ''[[The Skeptical Environmentalist]]''. The [[Danish Committees on Scientific Dishonesty]] (DSCD) concluded in an evaluation of the book that "one couldn't prove that Lomborg had deliberately been scientifically dishonest, although he had broken the rules of scientific practice in that he interpreted results beyond the conclusions of the authors he cited."<ref name="icg2008">{{cite web |last=Hansen |first=Jens Morten |date=2008 |title=The 'Lomborg case' on sustainable development and scientific dishonesty |url=http://www.cprm.gov.br/33IGC/1343527.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316130136/http://www.cprm.gov.br/33IGC/1343527.html |archive-date=2015-03-16 |access-date=23 November 2014 |website=International Geological Congress}}</ref> The [[Ministry of Higher Education and Science (Denmark)|Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation]] criticised the procedural aspects of the DCSD investigation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Revkin |first=Andrew C. |date=23 December 2003 |title=Danish Ethics Panel Censured for Critique of Book |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/23/science/danish-ethics-panel-censured-for-critique-of-book.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=3 April 2024 |archive-date=3 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240403192655/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/23/science/danish-ethics-panel-censured-for-critique-of-book.html |url-status=live }}</ref> His positions on climate change have been challenged by experts and characterized as [[cherry picking]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" />

== Education ==
Lomborg was an undergraduate at the [[University of Georgia]], earned an [[Master of Arts|M.A.]] degree in [[political science]] at the [[Aarhus University]] in 1991, and a [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] degree in political science at the [[University of Copenhagen]] in 1994.<ref>{{cite web |title=Curriculum Vitae Bjørn Lomborg |url=https://www.cinmipetrol.com/pdfs/lomborg.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.cinmipetrol.com/pdfs/lomborg.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |website=cinmipetrol.com |publisher=Copenhagen Business School |access-date=21 July 2022}}</ref><ref>
{{cite thesis |type=PhD |last=Lomborg |first=Bjørn |date=1994 |title=Simulating social science : the iterated prisoner's dilemma and computer simulations in political science  |publisher=[[University of Copenhagen]] Department of Political Science |oclc=464641106 |url=https://soeg.kb.dk/permalink/45KBDK_KGL/143rgf3/alma99122884776005763&lang=en }}
</ref>

== Career ==
Lomborg lectured in [[statistics]] in the Department of Political Science at the Aarhus University as an [[assistant professor]] (1994–1996) and [[associate professor]] (1997–2005). He left the university in February 2005 and in May of that year became an adjunct professor in Policy-making, Scientific Knowledge and the Role of Experts at the Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy, [[Copenhagen Business School]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbs.dk/en/research/departments-and-centres/department-of-management-politics-and-philosophy/events/appointment-of-bjoern-lomborg |title=Appointment of Bjørn Lomborg |website=Copenhagen Business School |date=3 June 2005 |access-date=24 April 2015}}</ref>

Early in his career, his professional areas of interest lay in the simulation of strategies in [[collective action]] [[Ethical dilemma|dilemmas]], simulation of [[political party|party]] behavior in [[Party-list proportional representation|proportional voting systems]], and the use of surveys in [[public administration]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Young |first=Mike |date=2022-06-14 |title=Bjørn Lomborg met a professor that gave him back his faith in university |url=https://uniavisen.dk/en/bjorn-lomborg-met-a-professor-that-gave-him-back-his-faith-in-university/ |access-date=2022-07-07 |website=University Post}}</ref> In 1996, Lomborg's paper, "Nucleus and Shield: Evolution of Social Structure in the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma", was published in the [[academic journal]] ''[[American Sociological Review]]''.<ref name=1996Nucleus>{{Cite journal |last=Lomborg |first=Bjørn |year=1996 |title=Nucleus and Shield: The Evolution of Social Structure in the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma |journal=American Sociological Review |volume=61 |issue=2 |pages=278–307 |doi=10.2307/2096335 |publisher=[[American Sociological Association]] |jstor=2096335 }}</ref>

Later, Lomborg's interests shifted to the use of statistics in the [[Environmental movement|environmental arena]]. In 1998, Lomborg published four [[essay]]s about the state of the [[environment (biophysical)|environment]] in the leading Danish newspaper ''[[Politiken]]'', which according to him "resulted in a firestorm debate spanning over 400 articles in major metropolitan newspapers."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lomborg.com/about/biography/ |title=Bjørn Lomborg Biography |website=www.lomborg.com |access-date=26 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513225836/http://www.lomborg.com/about/biography/ |archive-date=13 May 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=September 2022}} This led to the ''[[The Skeptical Environmentalist|Skeptical Environmentalist]]'', whose English translation was published as a work in [[environmental economics]] by [[Cambridge University Press]] in 2001. The book brought him international prominence as an opponent of the [[scientific consensus on climate change]].<ref name="Jowit2010"/> He later edited ''[[Global Crises, Global Solutions]]'', which presented the first conclusions of the [[Copenhagen Consensus]], published in 2004 by the Cambridge University Press. In 2007, he authored a book entitled ''[[Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming]].''<ref name="Jowit2010" />

In March 2002, the newly elected [[Centre-right|center-right]] [[Prime Minister of Denmark|prime minister]], [[Anders Fogh Rasmussen]], appointed Lomborg to run Denmark's new [[Environmental Assessment Institute]] (EAI). On 22 June 2004, resigned from this post to go back to the Aarhus University,<ref name="lomborg-error">{{cite web |last1=Fog |first1=Kåre |title=The functioning of the Environmental Assessment Institute |url=http://www.lomborg-errors.dk/lomborgstory15.htm |website=www.lomborg-errors.dk |access-date=25 October 2015 |page=15}}</ref> saying his work at the institute was done and that he could better serve the public debate from the academic sector. As of 2020, Lomborg is a visiting Fellow at the [[Hoover Institution]], a [[conservative think tank]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Bjorn Lomborg |url=https://www.hoover.org/profiles/bjorn-lomborg-0 |access-date=2020-12-27 |website=Hoover Institution}}</ref> In 2023 he was a mainstage speaker at the inaugural [[Alliance for Responsible Citizenship]].

== Books ==

=== ''The Skeptical Environmentalist'' ===
{{Main|The Skeptical Environmentalist}}

In 2001, he published ''[[The Skeptical Environmentalist]]'', whose main thesis is that many of the most-publicized claims and predictions on [[environmental issues]] are wrong. The book received negative reviews among the scientific community, including from the [[Union of Concerned Scientists]], [[Nature (journal)|''Nature'']] and ''[[Scientific American]]'', with many scientists criticising its assertions as poorly supported, [[Cherry picking|selectively using data]] and misrepresenting sources. However, it was well received in popular media and brought Lomborg to international attention.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=van den Bergh |first=Jeroen C.J.M. |date=2010-03-01 |title=An assessment of Lomborg's The Skeptical Environmentalist and the ensuing debate |journal=Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=23–52 |doi=10.1080/19438150903533730 |bibcode=2010JIES....7...23V |s2cid=216112173 |issn=1943-815X|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== Formal accusations of scientific dishonesty ====
[[File:Bjørn Lomborg - Tabersagen - DR3 - feb 2014.webm|thumb|Lomborg in 2014]]
After the publication of ''The Skeptical Environmentalist'', Lomborg was formally accused of scientific dishonesty by a group of environmental scientists, who brought a total of three complaints against him to the [[Danish Committees on Scientific Dishonesty]] (DCSD), a body under Denmark's [[Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Denmark|Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation]] (MSTI). Lomborg was asked whether he regarded the book as a "debate" publication, and thereby not under the purview of the DCSD, or as a scientific work; he chose the latter, clearing the way for the inquiry that followed.<ref name="icg2008" /> The charges claimed that ''The Skeptical Environmentalist'' contained deliberately misleading data and flawed conclusions. Due to the similarity of the complaints, the DCSD decided to proceed on the three cases under one investigation.

In January 2003, the DCSD released a ruling that sent a mixed message, finding the book to be scientifically dishonest through misrepresentation of scientific facts, but Lomborg himself not guilty due to his lack of expertise in the fields in question.<ref>{{cite web |title=2003 Annual Report |url=http://fivu.dk/en/publications/2004/annual-report-2003-the-danish-committees-on-scientific-dishonesty |access-date=13 February 2008 |website=The Danish Committees on Scientific Dishonesty}}</ref> That February, Lomborg filed a complaint against the decision with the MSTI, which had oversight over the DCSD. In December, 2003, the Ministry annulled the DCSD decision, citing procedural errors, including lack of documentation of errors in the book, and asked the DCSD to re-examine the case. In March 2004, the DCSD formally decided not to act further on the complaints, reasoning that renewed scrutiny would, in all likelihood, result in the same conclusion.<ref name="icg2008" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=22 December 2003 |title=Lomborg celebrates ministry ruling |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3340305.stm |access-date=10 June 2019 |website=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>

The original DCSD decision about Lomborg provoked a [[petition]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Underskriftsindsamling i protest mod afgørelsen om Bjørn Lomborg fra – Udvalgene Vedrørende Videnskabelig Uredelighed |trans-title=Signature collection in protest against the decision by Bjørn Lomborg from – The Committees on Scientific Dishonesty |url=http://www.math.ku.dk/~dlando/indsamling.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030117223212/http://www.math.ku.dk/~dlando/indsamling.htm |archive-date=17 January 2003 |access-date=28 July 2015 |website=Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Copenhagen |language=da}}</ref> signed by 287 Danish academics, primarily social scientists, who criticized the DCSD for evaluating the book as a work of science, whereas the petitioners considered it clearly an opinion piece by a non-scientist.<ref name="disbandDCSD">{{Cite journal |last=Abbott |first=Alison |date=13 February 2003 |title=Social scientists call for abolition of dishonesty committee |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=421 |issue=6924 |pages=681 |doi=10.1038/421681b |pmid=12610589 |bibcode=2003Natur.421..681A |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Tornbjerg |first1=Jesper |last2=Jastrup |first2=Morten |last3=Rubin |first3=Marcus |date=17 January 2003 |title=Kun få ingeniører støtter Lomborg |language=da |trans-title=Few engineers support Lomborg |newspaper=[[Politiken]] |url=http://politiken.dk/indland/ECE50446/kun-faa-ingenioerer-stoetter-lomborg/ |access-date=28 July 2015}}</ref> The Danish Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation then asked the Danish Research Agency (DRA) to form an independent working group to review DCSD practices.<ref>{{cite web |title=2002 Annual Report |url=http://fi.dk/site/english/publications/2003/annual-report-2002-danish-committees-scientific-dishonesty |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20071025142432/http://fi.dk/site/english/publications/2003/annual-report-2002-danish-committees-scientific-dishonesty |archive-date=25 October 2007 |access-date=13 February 2008 |website=The Danish Committees on Scientific Dishonesty}}</ref> In response to this, another group of Danish scientists collected over 600 signatures, primarily from the medical and [[natural science]]s community, to support the continued existence of the DCSD and presented their petition to the DRA.<ref name="disbandDCSD" />

=== ''Cool It'' ===
{{Main|Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming}}

[[File:Bjorn Lomborg.jpg|thumb|Lomborg speaking at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, London, 2023]]
Lomborg's follow-up to ''The Skeptical Environmentalist'', ''[[Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming]]'', was published in 2007. In it, Lomborg expanded on his views of [[climate change]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ackerman |first=Frank |date=2008-08-01 |title=Hot, it's not: Reflections on Cool It, by Bjorn Lomborg |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-008-9403-3 |journal=Climatic Change |language=en |volume=89 |issue=3 |pages=435–446 |doi=10.1007/s10584-008-9403-3 |bibcode=2008ClCh...89..435A |s2cid=62830936 |issn=1573-1480|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Lomborg starts with the premise "Global warming is real and man-made. It will have a serious impact on humans and the environment toward the end of this century."{{sfn |Cool It |2007 |p=8}} Lomborg argues at length that warming will result in ''reducing'' total deaths from extreme temperatures, due to warming in cold climates.<ref name="Jowit2010"/> The main theme is that then-current approaches for addressing climate change, such as the [[Kyoto Protocol]] on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, were not economically cost-effective.<ref name="Jowit2010">{{Cite magazine |date=August 30, 2010 |last=Jowit |first=Juliette |title=Bjørn Lomborg: the dissenting climate change voice who changed his tune |url=http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/aug/30/bjorn-lomborg-climate-change-profile |access-date=2022-09-13 |magazine=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>

''[[The Lomborg Deception]]'', a 2010 Yale University Press book by [[Howard Friel]], analyzed the ways in which Lomborg has "selectively used (and sometimes distorted) the available evidence",<ref name="pk" /> and alleged that the sources Lomborg provided in the footnotes did not support and, in some cases directly contradicted, Lomborg's assertions in the text of the book.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Begley |first=Sharon |date=22 February 2010 |title=Book Review: The Lomborg Deception |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/233942 |magazine=[[Newsweek]] |access-date=23 February 2010}}</ref> Lomborg denied those claims in a 27-page argument-by-argument response.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lomborg |first=Bjørn |title=A Response by Bjorn Lomborg to Howard Friel's 'The Lomborg Deception' |url=https://lomborg.com/dyn/files/basic_items/118-file/BL%20reply%20to%20Howard%20Friel.pdf?PHPSESSID=472777bb754a1c0c02d803620257a62a |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20111016162230/http://www.lomborg.com/dyn/files/basic_items/118-file/BL%20reply%20to%20Howard%20Friel.pdf |archive-date=16 October 2011 |work=Lomborg.com}}</ref> Friel wrote a reply to that response, in which he admitted two errors but otherwise rejected Lomborg's arguments.<ref>{{cite web |date=26 February 2010 |title=Response by Howard Friel to Bjørn Lomborg's comments about The Lomborg Deception |url=http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/HFResponseToLomborgFeb262010.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110412024906/http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/HFResponseToLomborgFeb262010.pdf |archive-date=12 April 2011 |access-date=13 October 2013 |website=Yale Press}}</ref>

==== Documentary film ====
{{Main|Cool It (film)}}

Bjørn Lomborg was the subject of documentary feature film ''Cool It'', adapted from his book of the same name. It was released on 12 November 2010 in the US.<ref>{{cite web |last=Doyle |first=Alister |date=12 October 2010 |title="Cool It" movie seeks climate solutions: Lomborg |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69B2MK20101012 |access-date=2019-09-14 |website=[[Reuters]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Liam |date=10 September 2010 |title=TIFF Movie Review: Cool It |url=http://www.empiremovies.com/2010/09/10/tiff-movie-review-cool-it/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100916232924/http://www.empiremovies.com/2010/09/10/tiff-movie-review-cool-it/ |archive-date=16 September 2010 |access-date=2019-09-14 |website=Empire Movies}}</ref> The film in part explicitly challenged [[Al Gore]]'s 2006 Oscar-winning environmental awareness documentary, ''[[An Inconvenient Truth]]''."<ref>{{cite news |last=Kaufman |first=Anthony |date=10 November 2010 |title=Controversial 'Cool It' Documentary Takes on 'An Inconvenient Truth' |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/11/10/controversial-cool-it-documentary-takes-on-an-inconvenient-truth/ |access-date=21 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Cieply |first=Michael |date=22 January 2010 |title=Filmmaker Seeks to Temper the Message of 'An Inconvenient Truth' |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/23/movies/23cool.html |url-access=limited |access-date=2019-09-14 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/23/movies/23cool.html |archive-date=2022-01-01}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The film received a media critic collective rating of 51% from [[Rotten Tomatoes]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Cool It (2010) |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cool_it/ |access-date=21 November 2014 |website=Rotten Tomatoes}}</ref> and 61% from [[Metacritic]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Cool It |url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/cool-it |access-date=21 November 2014 |website=Metacritic}}</ref>

== Copenhagen Consensus ==
[[File:Bjørn Lomborg at WTTC.jpg|thumb|300px|Lomborg (right) with [[DeAnne Julius]] (center) and [[Stephen Sackur]] (left), at [[World Travel and Tourism Council|WTTC]] Global Summit 2014]]
Lomborg and the Environmental Assessment Institute founded the [[Copenhagen Consensus]] in 2002, which seeks to establish priorities for advancing global welfare using methodologies based on the theory of [[welfare economics]]. A panel of prominent economists was assembled to evaluate and rank a series of problems every four years. The project was funded largely by the Danish government and was co-sponsored by ''[[The Economist]]''. A book summarizing the conclusions of the economists' first assessment, ''[[Global Crises, Global Solutions]]'', edited by Lomborg, was published in October 2004 by [[Cambridge University Press]].

In 2006, Lomborg became director of the newly established [[Copenhagen Consensus Center]], a Danish government-funded institute intended to build on the mandate of the EAI, and expand on the original Copenhagen Consensus conference.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/our-story |title=Our story |website=Copenhagen Consensus Center |access-date=21 November 2014}}</ref> Denmark withdrew its funding in 2012 and the Center faced imminent closure.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jan/23/bjorn-lomborg-climate-thinktank-close |title=Bjorn Lomborg's climate sceptic thinktank to close |newspaper=The Guardian |date=23 January 2012 |access-date=21 November 2014}}</ref><ref name="Guardian-17 Apr 2015" /> Lomborg left the country and reconstituted the Center as a non-profit organization in the United States.<ref name="cosmos">{{cite magazine |url=https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth-sciences/bj%C3%B8rn-lomborg-resilient-environmentalist |title=Bjørn Lomborg: The resilient environmentalist |magazine=[[Cosmos (Australian magazine)|Cosmos]] |date=21 October 2013 |access-date=21 November 2014 |last=Kloor |first=Keith |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129024519/https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth-sciences/bj%C3%B8rn-lomborg-resilient-environmentalist |archive-date=29 November 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/press-contact |title=Press Contact |website=Copenhagen Consensus Center |access-date=21 November 2014}}</ref> The Center was based out of a "Neighborhood Parcel Shipping Center" in [[Lowell, Massachusetts]], though Lomborg himself was based in [[Prague]] in the Czech Republic.<ref name="Conversation">{{cite web |url=http://theconversation.com/still-no-consensus-for-bjorn-lomborg-the-climate-change-refugee-45423 |title=Still no consensus for Bjorn Lomborg, the climate change refugee |last=Holmes |first=David |work=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] |date=30 July 2015 |access-date=30 July 2015}}</ref> In 2015, Lomborg described the center's funding as "a little more than $1m a year&nbsp;... from private donations",<ref name="Guardian-17 Apr 2015" /> of which Lomborg himself was paid $775,000 in 2012.<ref name="Conversation" />

=== Australian Consensus Centre ===
{{anchor|Bjørn Lomborg#Copenhagen Consensus}}<!-- "Australian Consensus Centre" redirects here -->In 2014, the [[Australian Government]] offered the [[University of Western Australia]] $4&nbsp;million to establish a "consensus centre", with Lomborg as director. The university accepted the offer, setting off a firestorm of opposition from its faculty and students, and from climate scientists around the world. In April 2015, the university reversed the decision and rejected the offer. The government continued to seek a sponsor for the proposed institution.<ref>{{cite news |last=Knott |first=M. |date=4 June 2015 |title=Bjorn Lomborg saga: Senate estimates hears 'consensus centre' could still come to Australia |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/bjorn-lomborg-saga-senate-estimates-hears-consensus-centre-could-still-come-to-australia-20150604-ghgd75.html |access-date=31 August 2015}}</ref> On 21 October 2015, the offered funding was withdrawn. In April 2015, it was announced that an alliance between the Copenhagen Consensus Center and the [[University of Western Australia]] would see the establishment of the Australian Consensus Centre, a new policy research center at the UWA Business School. The university described the center's goals as a "focus on applying an economic lens to proposals to achieve good for Australia, the region and the world, prioritizing those initiatives which produce the most social value per dollar spent.".<ref name="news.uwa.edu.au">{{cite web |url=http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201504027455/events/new-economic-prioritisation-research-centre-uwa |title=New economic prioritisation research centre at UWA |website=University of Western Australia |date=2 April 2015 |access-date=30 July 2015}}</ref> This appointment came under intense scrutiny, particularly when leaked documents revealed that the Australian government had approached UWA and offered to fund the Consensus Centre, information subsequently confirmed by a senior UWA lecturer.<ref name="SMH-23 Apr 2015">{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/bjorn-lomborg-centre-leaked-documents-cast-doubt-on-abbott-government-claims-20150423-1mqfnn.html |title=Bjorn Lomborg centre: leaked documents cast doubt on Abbott government claims |last1=Cox |first1=Lisa |last2=Knott |first2=Matthew |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=23 April 2015 |access-date=30 July 2015}}</ref> Reports indicated that Prime Minister [[Tony Abbott]]'s office was directly responsible for Lomborg's elevation.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/prime-minister-tony-abbotts-office-the-origin-for-controversial-bjorn-lomborg-centre-decision-20150423-1mrha2.html |title=Prime Minister Tony Abbott's office the origin for controversial Bjorn Lomborg centre decision |last1=Massola |first1=James |last2=Knott |first2=Matthew |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=23 April 2015 |access-date=30 July 2015}}</ref> $4&nbsp;million of the total funding for the center was to be provided by the Australian federal government,<ref name="Guardian-17 Apr 2015">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/17/abbott-government-gives-4m-to-help-climate-sceptic-set-up-australian-centre |title=Abbott government gives $4m to help climate contrarian set up Australian centre |last=Taylor |first=Lenore |date=16 April 2015 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=30 July 2015}}</ref> with UWA not contributing any funding for the centre.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Paul |title=Message from the Vice-Chancellor on the Australian Consensus Centre |url=http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201505087564/message-vice-chancellor-australian-consensus-centre |website=University of Western Australia |access-date=10 May 2015 |date=8 May 2015}}</ref>

On 8 May 2015, UWA cancelled the contract for hosting the Australian Consensus Centre as "the proposed centre was untenable and lacked academic support".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-09/students-praise-uwa-for-ditching-bjorn-lomborg-think-tank/6457210 |title=Students praise UWA for ditching controversial $4m Bjorn Lomborg Consensus Centre think tank |website=[[ABC (Australian TV channel)|ABC News]] |date=9 May 2015 |access-date=30 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=UWA cancels contract for Consensus Centre headed by controversial academic Bjorn Lomborg |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-08/bjorn-lomborg-uwa-consensus-centre-contract-cancelled/6456708 |access-date=10 May 2015 |work=ABC News |date=8 May 2015}}</ref><ref name="aaas-no-funds" /> The Australian federal education minister, [[Christopher Pyne]], said that he would find another university to host the ACC.

In July 2015, [[Flinders University]] senior management began quietly canvassing its staff about a plan to host the renamed Lomborg Consensus Centre at the university, likely in the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. A week later the story was broken on Twitter by the NTEU (National Tertiary Education Union)<ref name="twitter">{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/NTEUWA/status/624107282452754433 |website=Twitter.com|title=NTEU WA Division on Twitter: "@NTEUSA @NTEUNational @NTEUVictoria @NTEUNSW @NTEUQld Do we need a new hashtag #lomborgflinders since we hear he maybe heading there?"|access-date=12 November 2016}}</ref> and Scott Ludlam.<ref name="twitter2">{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/SenatorLudlam/status/624113257838542848 |website=Twitter.com |title=Scott Ludlam on Twitter: "rumour has it Bjorn Lomborg might be setting up shop at Flinders Uni in SA: anyone able to confirm? #lomborgflinders #findbjorn" |access-date=12 November 2016}}</ref> The story appeared the next day in ''The Australian'',<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/flinders-university-in-talks-on-lomborg-plan-for-consensus-centre/news-story/1228444c2700a67079bd436aeea2205f |title=Flinders University in talks on Lomborg plan for Consensus Centre |date=23 July 2015 |newspaper=The Australian |url-access=subscription}}</ref> but described as "academic conversations" with no mention of Bjorn Lomborg's involvement and portrayed as a grassroots desire for the centre by the university.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.flinders.edu.au/flinders-news/2015/07/24/statement-from-the-vice-chancellor-on-current-academic-discussions/ |title=Statement from the Vice-Chancellor on current academic discussions |date=24 July 2015 |website=Flinders University}}{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The following week, a story appeared in ''The Guardian'' quoting two Flinders University academics and an internal document demonstrating staff's withering rejection of the idea.<ref name="theguardian">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/28/bjrn-lomborgs-4m-centre-rejected-by-flinders-university-academics |newspaper=The Guardian |title=Bjørn Lomborg's $4m centre rejected by Flinders University academics |date=28 July 2015 |access-date=12 November 2016}}</ref> Flinders staff and students vowed to fight against the establishment of any Centre or any partnership with Lomborg,<ref name="smh">{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/students-and-staff-warn-of-angry-backlash-if-sceptical-environmentalist-bjorn-lomborg-sets-up-research-centre-at-flinders-university-20150724-gijmlz.html |first=Nicole |last=Hasham |date=24 July 2015 |title=Students and staff warn of angry backlash if 'sceptical environmentalist' Bjorn Lomborg sets up research centre at Flinders University |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=12 November 2016}}</ref> citing his lack of scientific credibility, his lack of academic legitimacy and the political nature of the process of establishing the centre with the Abbott federal government. The [[Australian Youth Climate Coalition]] and [[350.org]] launched a national campaign to support staff and students in their rejection of Lomborg.<ref name="aycc">{{cite web |url=http://www.aycc.org.au/bjorn_free |title=Open Letter to Flinders Uni – Keep Us Bjorn-Free |website=Australian Youth Climate Coalition |access-date=12 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160229101704/http://www.aycc.org.au/bjorn_free |archive-date=29 February 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 21 October 2015, education minister [[Simon Birmingham]] told a senate committee the offered funding had been withdrawn.<ref name="aaas-no-funds">{{cite web |last1=Dayton |first1=Leigh |title=Climate-change contrarian loses Australian funding |url=https://news.sciencemag.org/scientific-community/2015/10/climate-change-doubter-loses-australian-funding |website=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] |access-date=25 October 2015 |date=22 October 2015 |archive-date=25 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025011607/http://news.sciencemag.org/scientific-community/2015/10/climate-change-doubter-loses-australian-funding |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was subsequently unclear whether the Australian Government would honour its original commitment and transfer the funds directly to the centre to cover the costs incurred.

== Views on climate change ==
[[File:Global warming hiatus.gif|thumb|Visualisation of the [[Global warming hiatus|global warming "hiatus"]], which Lomborg highlighted in the 2010s<ref name=":2" />]]
Lomborg has set out his views on [[climate change]] in several books, articles, interviews, and opinion pieces.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lomborg |first=Bjorn |date=17 October 2007 |title=Sucked dry |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/oct/17/comment.climatechange |access-date=24 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Lomborg |first=Bjorn |date=15 December 2009 |title=Time for a Smarter Approach to Global Warming |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704517504574589952331068322 |access-date=24 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Elmhirst |first=Sophie|author-link=Sophie Elmhirst |date=24 September 2010 |title=The NS Interview: Bjørn Lomborg |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/environment/2010/09/interview-gay-climate |journal=New Statesman}}</ref><ref name="theglobeandmail">{{cite news |last=Lomborg |first=Bjorn |date=17 April 2015 |title=It's time to stop subsidizing fossil fuels |newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]] |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/its-time-to-stop-subsidizing-fossil-fuels/article24002168/ |access-date=12 November 2016}}</ref> Lomborg knows that climate change is occurring and [[causes of climate change|humans are responsible]], but disputes that the [[effects of climate change|effects]] and [[economic impacts of climate change|economic impacts]] will be negative. He argues that finances should be spent elsewhere, rather than on [[Climate change mitigation|mitigation]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2013-12-06 |title=Is Bjorn Lomborg right to say fossil fuels are what poor countries need? {{!}} Graham Readfearn |url=http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2013/dec/06/bjorn-lomborg-climate-change-poor-countries-need-fossil-fuels |access-date=2022-09-17 |website=The Guardian }}</ref><ref name="Jowit2010" />  He does not support [[solar energy|solar panels]], saying they are "inefficient", which is "why you have to subsidise them". According to [[Reuters]], "many nations, especially in the developing world where food and water supplies are most [[climate change vulnerability|vulnerable]] to climate shifts projected by the U.N. panel of climate scientists, reject Lomborg’s views" that investment into [[technological fix|technology]] is an adequate response to climate change.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2010-10-12 |title="Cool It" movie seeks climate solutions: Lomborg |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-summit-lomborg-idUSTRE69B2MK20101012 |access-date=2022-09-13}}</ref> He has opposed the [[Kyoto Protocol]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dasgupta |first=Partha |date=September 2007 |title=A challenge to Kyoto |journal=Nature  |volume=449 |issue=7159 |pages=143–144 |doi=10.1038/449143a |bibcode=2007Natur.449..143D |s2cid=4419995 |issn=1476-4687|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Jowit2010" /> and called the [[Paris Agreement]] a "charade".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lomborg |first1=Bjorn |date=16 June 2017 |title=The Charade of the Paris Treaty |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-charade-of-the-paris-treaty-1497623798}}</ref> He has been accused of exaggerating the [[economics of climate change mitigation|economic costs of climate change mitigation policies]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2021-12-02 |title=Climate cost study authors accuse Bjørn Lomborg of misinterpreting results {{!}} Temperature Check |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/02/climate-cost-study-authors-accuse-bjrn-lomborg-of-misinterpreting-results |access-date=2022-09-17 |website=the Guardian }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A closer examination of the fantastical numbers in Bjorn Lomborg's new book |url=https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/news/a-closer-examination-of-the-fantastical-numbers-in-bjorn-lomborgs-new-book/ |access-date=2022-09-17 |website=Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment}}</ref>

Several of Lomborg's articles, in newspapers such as ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' and ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', have been checked by [[Climate Feedback]], a worldwide network of scientists who assess the credibility of influential [[climate change media coverage]]. The Climate Feedback reviewers assessed that the scientific credibility of the articles ranged between "low" and "very low". The Climate Feedback reviewers came to the conclusion that in one case, Lomborg "practices [[cherry picking]]";<ref name=":0" /> in a second case, he "had reached his conclusions through cherry-picking from a small subset of the evidence, misrepresenting the results of existing studies, and relying on flawed reasoning";<ref>{{cite web |first=Emmanuel |last=Vincent |date=11 April 2016 |title=Analysis of "An Overheated Climate Alarm" |url=https://science.feedback.org/review/bjorn-lomborg-overheated-climate-alarm-wall-street-journal/ |access-date=15 March 2026 |website=Climate Feedback}}</ref> in a third case, "[his] article [is in] blatant disagreement with available [[Scientific consensus on climate change|scientific evidence]], while the author does not offer adequate evidence to support his statements";<ref>{{cite web |first=Emmanuel |last=Vincent |date=9 May 2016 |title=Analysis of "…in many ways global warming will be a good thing" |url=https://science.feedback.org/review/the-telegraph-bjorn-lomborg-in-many-ways-global-warming-will-be-good-thing/ |access-date=15 March 2026 |website=Climate Feedback}}</ref> and in a fourth case, "The author, Bjorn Lomborg, cherry-picks this specific piece of research and uses it in support of a broad argument against the value of climate policy. He also misrepresents the [[Paris Agreement]] to downplay its potential to curb future climate change."<ref>{{cite web |first=Emmanuel |last=Vincent |date=17 October 2016 |title=Analysis of "About Those Non-Disappearing Pacific Islands" |url=https://science.feedback.org/review/sea-level-rise-those-non-disappearing-pacific-islands-bjorn-lomborg-wall-street-journal/ |access-date=15 March 2026 |website=Climate Feedback}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Lomborg is [[gay]] and a [[vegetarian]].<ref name=NewStatesman>{{Cite magazine |title=The man who demanded a recount |first=Jason |last=Cowley |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/200306300013 |date=30 June 2003 |access-date=24 July 2007 |magazine=[[New Statesman]] |archive-date=27 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927233227/http://www.newstatesman.com/200306300013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> As a [[public figure]] he has been a participant in information campaigns in Denmark about [[LGBT rights in Denmark|homosexuality]], and states that "Being a public gay is to my view a civic responsibility. It's important to show that the width of the gay world cannot be described by a tired stereotype, but goes from leather gays on parade-wagons to suit-and-tie yuppies in boardrooms, as well as everything in between".<ref name=OBLS>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dr.dk/obls/personer-lomborg.html |title=OBLS personer: Bjørn Lomborg |website=[[Danmarks Radio]] |language=da |access-date=12 June 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030120171405/http://www.dr.dk/obls/personer-lomborg.html |archive-date=20 January 2003}}</ref>

== Recognition and awards ==
* The Global Leaders of Tomorrow (Class 2002) – [[World Economic Forum]] (2002)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GLT_ClassOf2002.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GLT_ClassOf2002.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=The Global Leaders of Tomorrow 2002 |website=World Economic Forum |access-date=22 November 2014}}</ref>
* The Stars of Europe (category: Agenda Setters) – ''[[BusinessWeek]]'' (17 June 2002): "No matter what they think of his views, nobody denies that Bjorn Lomborg has shaken the environmental movement to its core."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/toc/02_24/B3787estar02.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020806014827/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/toc/02_24/B3787estar02.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 August 2002 |title=The Stars of Europe – Agenda Setters – Bjorn Lomborg |website=BusinessWeek Online |date=17 June 2002 |access-date=26 February 2006}}</ref>
* The 2004 [[Time 100|''Time'' 100]] (in Scientists & Thinkers) – ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' (26 April 2004): "Our list of the most influential people in the world today: He just might be the [[Martin Luther]] of the [[environmental movement]]."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1970858,00.html |title=The 2004 Time 100 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=26 April 2004 |access-date=21 November 2014}}</ref>
* Top 100 Public Intellectuals Poll (#14) ''[[Foreign Policy (magazine)|Foreign Policy]]'' and ''[[Prospect (magazine)|Prospect]]'' (2005)<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3260 |title=Prospect/FP Top 100 Public Intellectuals Results |date=October 2005 |magazine=Foreign Policy |access-date=5 December 2009}}</ref>
* Top 100 Public Intellectuals Poll (#41) ''Foreign Policy'' and ''Prospect'' (2008)<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2008/07/intellectualstheresults/ |title=Intellectuals – the results |date=26 July 2008 |magazine=Prospect |access-date=5 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930160551/http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2008/07/intellectualstheresults/ |archive-date=30 September 2009}}</ref>
* 50 people who could save the planet – ''[[The Guardian]]'' (5 January 2008)<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/jan/05/activists.ethicalliving |title=50 people who could save the planet |date=5 January 2008 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=5 December 2009 |location=London |first1=John |last1=Vidal |first2=David |last2=Adam |first3=Jonathan |last3=Watts |first4=Leo |last4=Hickman |first5=Ian |last5=Sample}}</ref>
* Glocal Hero Award – [[Transatlantyk Festival|Transatlantyk – Poznań International Film and Music Festival]] (2011)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://old.transatlantyk.org/en/news/transatlantyk-glocal-hero-award |title=Transatlantyk Glocal Hero Award |website=Transatlantyk Festival Poznan |access-date=22 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129225849/http://old.transatlantyk.org/en/news/transatlantyk-glocal-hero-award |archive-date=29 November 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* FP Top 100 Global Thinkers – ''Foreign Policy'' (2012): "For taking the black and white out of climate politics"<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/11/26/the_fp_100_global_thinkers?page=0,39 |title=The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers |date=26 November 2012 |magazine=[[Foreign Policy]] |access-date=28 November 2012 |archive-date=30 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130221322/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/11/26/the_fp_100_global_thinkers?page=0,33 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Discussions in the media ==
After the release of ''The Skeptical Environmentalist'' in 2001, Lomborg was subjected to intense scrutiny and criticism in the [[News media|media]]. As in the scientific community, his scientific qualifications and integrity were criticized, although some popular media outlets supported him.<ref name=":3" /> The verdict of the Danish Committees for Scientific Dishonesty fueled this debate and brought it into the spotlight of international [[mass media]]. By the end of 2003 Lomborg had become an international celebrity, with frequent appearances on radio, television and [[Publishing|print media]] around the world. He is also a regular contributor to [[Project Syndicate]] since 2005.
* ''[[Scientific American]]'' published criticism of Lomborg's book. Lomborg responded on his own [[website]], quoting the article at such length that ''Scientific American'' threatened to sue for [[copyright infringement]]. Lomborg eventually removed the rebuttal from his website; it was later published in PDF format on ''Scientific American''{{'}}s site.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00000B96-9517-1CDA-B4A8809EC588EEDF |title=Bjørn Lomborg's comments to the 11-page critique in January 2002 Scientific American (SA) |date=16 February 2002 |website=Scientific American |access-date=26 February 2006}}</ref> The magazine also printed a response to the rebuttal.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00040A72-A95C-1CDA-B4A8809EC588EEDF |title=A Response to Lomborg's Rebuttal |last=Rennie |first=John |date=15 April 2002 |magazine=Scientific American |access-date=26 February 2006}}</ref>
* ''[[The Economist]]'' defended Lomborg, claiming the panel of experts that had criticized Lomborg in ''Scientific American'' was both biased and did not actually counter Lomborg's book. ''The Economist'' argued that the panel's opinion had come under no scrutiny at all, and that Lomborg's responses had not been reported.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=1522706 |title=Thought control |date=9 January 2003 |magazine=The Economist |access-date=26 February 2006}}</ref>
* ''[[Penn & Teller: Bullshit!]]''&nbsp;— the U.S. [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] television programme featured an episode entitled "Environmental Hysteria" in which Lomborg criticized what he claimed was environmentalists' refusal to accept a [[cost–benefit analysis]] of environmental questions, and stressed the need to prioritise some issues above others.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sho.com/site/ptbs/topics.do?topic=eh |title=Bullshit: Environmental Hysteria |website=[[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] |access-date=3 June 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050622081241/http://www.sho.com/site/ptbs/topics.do?topic=eh |archive-date=22 June 2005}}</ref>
* ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' stated, "Lomborg pulls off the remarkable feat of welding the techno-optimism of the Internet age with a lefty's concern for the fate of the planet."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lomborg.com/files/lombquo.doc |title=Early Praise for The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World |website=Cambridge University Press |access-date=26 February 2006 |via=lomborg.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060221051355/http://www.lomborg.com/files/lombquo.doc |archive-date=21 February 2006}}</ref>
* The [[Union of Concerned Scientists]] criticized ''The Skeptical Environmentalist'', claiming it to be "seriously flawed and failing to meet basic standards of credible scientific analysis", accusing Lomborg of presenting data in a fraudulent way, using flawed logic and selectively citing non-peer-reviewed literature.<ref name="UCS">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/solutions/fight-misinformation/ucs-examines-the-skeptical.html |title=UCS Examines 'The Skeptical Environmentalist' |website=Union of Concerned Scientists |access-date=11 February 2010}}</ref> The review was conducted by [[Peter Gleick]], [[Jerry D. Mahlman]], [[Edward O. Wilson]], [[Thomas Lovejoy]], [[Norman Myers]], [[Jeffrey Harvey (biologist)|Jeff Harvey]], and [[Stuart Pimm]].
* ''[[The New York Times]]'' criticized ''False Alarm'', stating "This book proves the aphorism that a little knowledge is dangerous. It's nominally about air pollution. It's really about mind pollution." The review was conducted by Nobel laureate [[Joseph Stiglitz]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Stiglitz|first=Joseph E.|date=2020-07-16|title=Are We Overreacting on Climate Change?|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/books/review/bjorn-lomborg-false-alarm-joseph-stiglitz.html|access-date=2020-07-22|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* In January 2026, the Danish newspaper ''Politiken'' reported—based on newly released documents from the U.S. Department of Justice—that Lomborg had a scheduled one-hour meeting with Jeffrey Epstein at Epstein's New York residence on 25 September 2012, arranged by Lomborg's literary agent John Brockman.<ref name="Politiken-2026">{{cite news |last=Mainz |first=Pernille |title=Kong Frederik nævnes i nye Epstein-dokumenter. Nu reagerer kongehuset |url=https://politiken.dk/danmark/art10713143/Kong-Frederik-n%C3%A6vnes-i-nye-Epstein-dokumenter.-Nu-reagerer-kongehuset |work=Politiken |date=31 January 2026 |language=da |access-date=3 February 2026}}</ref> According to a written statement from Lomborg's manager quoted by the paper, the conversation concerned philanthropic funding, Lomborg was not aware at the time of Epstein's earlier conviction, and there was no further contact after the meeting.<ref name="Politiken-2026" />

== Publications ==
* "Nucleus and Shield: Evolution of [[Social structure|Social Structure]] in the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma", ''[[American Sociological Review]]'', 1996.
* {{cite book |last= |first=|title=[[The Skeptical Environmentalist|The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World]] |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2001 |isbn=0521010683}}
* ''[[Global Crises, Global Solutions]]'', Copenhagen Consensus, Cambridge University Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0521606144}}, as editor
* ''How to Spend $50 Billion to Make the World a Better Place'', Cambridge University Press, 2006. {{ISBN|978-0521685719}}, as editor
* ''Solutions for the World's Biggest Problems – Costs and Benefits'', Cambridge University Press, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0521715973}}, as editor
* {{cite book |date=2007 |title=[[Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming]] |ref=CITEREFCool_It2007 |isbn=978-0307267795 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday}}
* ''Smart Solutions to Climate Change, Comparing Costs and Benefits'', Cambridge University Press, 2010, {{ISBN|978-0521763424}}.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/aug/30/bjorn-lomborg-climate-change-u-turn |title=Bjørn Lomborg: $100bn a year needed to fight climate change |last=Jowit |first=Juliette |date=30 August 2010 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=10 June 2019 |quote=Although Pachauri once compared Lomborg to Hitler, he has now given an unlikely endorsement to the new book, ''Smart Solutions to Climate Change''.}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2011/04/07/resisting-climate-reality/ |title=Resisting Climate Reality |first=Bill |last=McKibben |date=7 April 2011 |magazine=[[The New York Review of Books]] |access-date=10 June 2019}}</ref>
* ''The Nobel Laureates Guide to the Smartest Targets for the World 2016–2030'', Copenhagen Consensus Center, 2015. {{ISBN|978-1940003115}}
* ''Prioritizing Development: A Cost Benefit Analysis of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals'' Cambridge University Press, 2018, {{ISBN|1108415458}}, as editor
* {{cite book |title=False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet |year=2020 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-1541647480}}
* {{cite journal |title=Thinking Smartly About Climate Change |journal=[[Imprimis]] |url= https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/thinking-smartly-about-climate-change/|date=April–May 2023 |volume=52 |issue=4/5 |pages=1–7 |publisher=[[Hillsdale College]] |location=[[Hillsdale, MI]] |issn=0277-8432}}
* ''Best Things First: The 12 Most Efficient Solutions for the World's Poorest and Our Global SDG Promises'', Copenhagen Consensus Center, 2023. {{ISBN|978-1940003481}}

== See also ==
* [[Global warming controversy]]
* [[Environmental skepticism]]
* [[Project Syndicate]]
* [[List of people who have been pied]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*Sarvis, Will. Embracing Philanthropic Environmentalism: The Grand Responsibility of Stewardship, (McFarland, 2019).
*{{cite magazine |url=https://web.ma.utexas.edu/users/davis/375/reading/sciam.pdf |title=Misleading Math about the Earth |last1=Schneider |first1=Stephen |author-link1=Stephen Schneider (scientist) |last2=Holdren |first2=John |last3=Bongaarts |first3=John |author-link3=John Bongaarts |last4=Lovejoy |first4=Thomas |date=January 2002 |magazine=Scientific American |volume=286 |issue=1 |pages=61–71 |via=University of Texas at Austin |access-date=10 June 2019 |archive-date=25 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925232919/https://web.ma.utexas.edu/users/davis/375/reading/sciam.pdf |url-status=dead }}
*{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/07/science/scientist-at-work-bjorn-lomborg-from-an-unlikely-quarter-eco-optimism.html |title=From an Unlikely Quarter, Eco-Optimism |last=Wade |first=Nichola |date=7 August 2001 |newspaper=The New York Times}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Bjørn Lomborg}}
* [https://lomborg.com/ Lomborg's personal website], with own articles, links to related broadcasts on radio and TV, and Lomborg's opinion on the issues with the Danish Committees on Scientific Dishonesty
* [https://www.theguardian.com/profile/bjrnlomborg Column archive] at ''[[The Guardian]]''
* [https://www.project-syndicate.org/columnist/bjorn-lomborg Column archive] at [[Project Syndicate]]
* {{TED speaker}}
* {{C-SPAN|1014271}}
* {{IMDb name|1305678}}
* [http://www.lomborg-errors.dk/ "Lomborg Errors"] compilation of claims of errors in Lomborg's work
* {{NYTtopic|people/l/bjorn_lomborg}}
* {{Google Scholar id|HUMF5c0AAAAJ}}
;Interviews
*{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.06/lomborg.html |title=You Can Cure Aids. Or End Hunger. Choose |last=Reiss |first=Spencer |date=1 June 2004 |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]}}
*{{cite web |url=http://zensci.com/blog/thomas-hesselberg/interview-bj%C3%B8rn-lomborg/ |title=Interview with Bjørn Lomborg |last=Kiil |first=Lennart |date=23 November 2007 |website=ZenSci |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509125145/http://zensci.com/blog/thomas-hesselberg/interview-bj%C3%B8rn-lomborg/ |archive-date=9 May 2008}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.eenews.net/tv/transcript/711 |title=Skeptical enviro Bjorn Lomborg discusses post-Kyoto roadmap, calls Kyoto "feel good strategy" |first=Monica |last=Trauzzi |date=12 December 2007 |website=[[E&E TV]]}}
;Articles
*{{cite magazine |url=http://www.grist.org/advice/books/2001/12/12/of1/ |title=A skeptical look at 'The Skeptical Environmentalist' |date=12 December 2001 |magazine=[[Grist (magazine)|Grist]]}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.stichting-han.nl/lomborg.htm |title=Study and discussion of the 'Lomborg case' in Denmark |website=HAN website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050207095303/http://www.stichting-han.nl/lomborg.htm |archive-date=7 February 2005}}
*{{cite web |url=http://info-pollution.com/lomborg.htm |title=Correcting myths from Bjørn Lomborg |first=Jim |last=Norton |website=Info-pollution.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020609025629/http://info-pollution.com/lomborg.htm |archive-date=9 June 2002}}
*{{cite magazine |url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/2002/11/the_skeptical_environmentalist_measuring_the_real_state_of_the_world/ |title=Review: 'The Skeptical Environmentalist', Measuring The Real State of the World |last=Fisher |first=Richard M. |date=December 2002 |volume=26 |number=6 |magazine=[[Skeptical Inquirer]]}} 
*{{cite magazine |url=http://www.grist.org/advice/books/2001/12/12/point/ |title=On Bjorn Lomborg and extinction |first=Edward O. |last=Wilson |author-link=Edward O. Wilson |date=12 December 2001 |magazine=Grist}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.lomborg.com/files/RidleySciAmerLomborg.pdf |title=Letter in Support of Lomborg to 'Scientific American' |last=Ridley |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Ridley |website=Lomborg.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060221051406/http://www.lomborg.com/files/RidleySciAmerLomborg.pdf |archive-date=21 February 2006}}
*{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303513404577356414271425218 |title=An Economic Approach to the Environment |last=Lomborg |first=Bjørn |date=23 April 2012 |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]]}}
*{{cite magazine |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/09/28/not_so_hot |title=Not So Hot |last=Lomborg |first=Bjørn |date=28 September 2012 |magazine=[[Foreign Policy]] |access-date=5 March 2017 |archive-date=12 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012161522/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/09/28/not_so_hot |url-status=dead }}
{{Bjørn Lomborg}}{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lomborg, Bjorn}}
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