| What most people shrugged off as rubbish | | | | most' bang for the buck' if spending was focused |
| twenty years ago, is now perceived to be the | | | | on this issue. With other words it would be the |
| gospel truth. And now there are such vitriolic | | | | most effective way of spending the world's aid |
| evangelists in favour that one has to be superbly | | | | funding. |
| courageous to even voice an opinion against it. | | | | The second world problem the experts decided |
| This truth is the global warming issue. There, I can | | | | should receive funding was malnutrition. Number |
| already see the hackles rising. What now, you ask | | | | three in terms of importance, they felt, was the |
| yourself. | | | | principle of offering Fair Trade to countries outside |
| Bearing this in mind then, one has to give the | | | | the North Americas and Europe, as this would |
| Danish political scientist Bjorn Lomborg an | | | | enable areas such as the sub-Sahara to earn a |
| especially large medal for bravery for speaking | | | | more sustainable living through trade. And the |
| out on the subject. This does not mean that Mr | | | | fourth issue that should be addressed was malaria. |
| Lomborg is opposed to the idea that there is such | | | | Global warming only featured as number 17 on |
| a thing as global warming, or questioning that it is | | | | the list. Its position on the chart was determined |
| busy destroying our planet earth. Not at all. What | | | | by how expensive it would be to address serious |
| he is saying rather, is that the world has huge | | | | global warming issues, in relation to how much |
| problems, in addition to global warming, and that | | | | more effective the money could be spent |
| available aid funding would not be sufficient to | | | | addressing malaria or combating the spread of |
| address all these problems. | | | | HIV/AIDS for instance. |
| Amongst the list of the top most pressing | | | | During this meeting of bright minds, it was also |
| problems the world faces are poverty, starvation, | | | | decided that many of the world interventions |
| malnutrition, lack of water and sanitation, HIV | | | | such as fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS would |
| AIDS, malaria, lack of free trade and migration of | | | | automatically enable the human race to be more |
| people just to mention some of them. He was | | | | aware of environmental issues in that they would |
| not the only one who compiled this list. In 2004 | | | | not need to focus all of their attention on their |
| Bjorn Lomborg convened a Copenhagen | | | | and their family's survival. Some of their effort |
| Consensus at which the participants tried to | | | | could be spent on ensuring that some global |
| establish a strategy on how to tackle these | | | | warming issues became important to them. |
| challenges with a view to utilising the limited | | | | The most important question one needs to ask |
| available funds as effectively as possible. | | | | then is whether one should allow a group of |
| During these discussions a plan of action was | | | | economists to determine what is important for |
| recommended. Previously no organisation, including | | | | the world. Who after all should determine what |
| the United Nations, had established any kind of | | | | the money needs to be spent on when every |
| plan to view and tackle the overall problems | | | | single major problem, whether malnutrition, HIV |
| facing the world. This Copenhagen Consensus has | | | | AIDS or global warming for instance needs to be |
| tried to do this involving many experts in the | | | | addressed as a matter of urgency. |
| various areas such as health for instance plus | | | | Remember the popular debating topic? When a |
| adding in a sprinkling of economists to assist with | | | | plane is falling out of the sky, who out of all the |
| predictions on costs and possible outcomes. | | | | passengers gets to use the one and only |
| The recommendations of these experts was that | | | | parachute? Or the cruiser that is sinking, who gets |
| the number one priority for the world should be | | | | to climb into the lifeboat. Check the video at TED |
| to spend available funding on the HIV/AIDS | | | | of Bjorn Lomborg discussing the topic of global |
| pandemic both for prevention and for health care | | | | problems and make up your own mind as to |
| for infected people. The conclusion they drew | | | | which one you feel is the most important. |
| was that the available funding would provide the | | | | |