Linked with our presentation of Bjorn Lomborg – Denmark, and of the
Copenhagen Consensus 2006.
The Copenhagen Consensus Center (CCC) analyzes the world’s greatest challenges and works with any organization concerned with mitigating the effects of these problems.
The Copenhagen Consensus process aims to establish a framework in which solutions to problems are prioritized based upon the best information possible. This process was started in 2003 when some of the world’s best economists wrote comprehensive analyses of the major challenges facing the planet. Using this information, a panel of stellar economists – including four Nobel laureates – produced a prioritized list of opportunities responding to those challenges, at the Copenhagen Consensus 2004 meeting.
The Center’s core project, the follow-up conference Copenhagen Consensus 2008, is funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and will result in an updated global priority list. The project reflects the continued need to focus on priorities, the enhanced scientific and economic understanding of the problems, and encourages the implementation of innovative and cost-efficient solutions.
CCC is currently working with international entities to set priorities by using the Copenhagen Consensus process within organizations, countries and regions, and within specific policy areas. These projects will be disclosed as they become formalized. The Center is lead by Bjørn Lomborg.
The Copenhagen Consensus is a project which seeks to establish priorities for advancing global welfare using methodologies based on the theory of welfare economics. It was conceived [1] and organized by Bjørn Lomborg, the author of The Skeptical Environmentalist and the Environmental Assessment Institute which he was heading at the time. The project was funded largely by the Danish government, and co-sponsored by The Economist. A book summarizing the conclusions, Global Crises, Global Solutions, edited by Lomborg, was published in October 2004 by Cambridge University Press. A second round is proposed for 2008. The Copenhagen Consensus Center [2] is now located at Copenhagen Business School.
The participants were all economists, with the focus of the project being a rational prioritization based on economic analysis. The project is based on the contention that, in spite of the billions of dollars spent on global challenges by the United Nations, the governments of wealthy nations, foundations, charities, and non-governmental organizations, the money spent on problems such as malnutrition and climate change is not sufficient to meet many internationally-agreed targets. This argument is supported by evidence from the World Bank, which estimates that the UN’s Millennium Development Goals would cost an additional annual $40-$70 billion on top of the $57 billion already spent as of 2004 [3]; this increased expenditure would have to continue each year until 2015 in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
The emphasis on « rational priorization » is justified as a corrective to standard practice in international development, where, it is alleged, media attention and the « court of public opinion » results in priorities that are often far from optimal. (Read more on wikipedia).
links:
MBA;