Copenhagen Consesus
Ahnimus
Posts: 10,560
Copenhagen Consensus – A United Nations Perspective took place in New York from the 27th to 28th of October 2006 at UNICEF House, New York.
The meeting brought together a number of UN ambassadors and set focus on the issue of prioritising the use of limited resources in the global effort to mitigate the negative consequences of ten global challenges such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, hunger and climate change. The event raised the question:
In a world of limited ressources, if we cannot do everything at once, what should we do first?
The ambassadors met in closed sessions to discuss and prioritize solutions to ten of the world's biggest challenges. The event was an important way of encouraging the UN system as well as UN member countries to work transparently and realistically with priorization in their work with the world's biggest challenges (for further details see 'background').
The book How to Spend $50 Billion to Make the World a Better Place provides summaries of the economic background papers and the academic foundation of the conference.
[size=+2]Top Ten[/size]
[size=+1]----challenge
opportunity
[/size]
1 Communicable Diseases
Scaled-up basic health services
2 Sanitation and Water
Community-managed water supply and sanitation
3 Communicable Diseases
Control of HIV/AIDS
4 Communicable Diseases
Control of malaria
5 Malnutrition and Hunger
Improving infant and child nutrition
6 Malnutrition and Hunger
Reducing micro nutrient deficiencies
7 Sanitation and Water
Small-scale water technology for livelihoods
8 Malnutrition and Hunger
Investment in technology in developing country agriculture
9 Education
Reductions in the cost of schooling to increase demand
10 Education
Physical expansion
[size=+2]Bottom Ten[/size]
[size=+1]----challenge
opportunity
[/size]
31 Conflicts
Shortening conflicts: Natural resource tracking
32 Migration
Active immigration policies
33 Financial Instability
International solution to the currency
34 Financial Instability
Re-regulate domestic financial markets
35 Financial Instability
Reimpose capital controls
36 Subsidies and Trade Barriers
Full reform: 100% liberalization
37 Climate Change
Optimal carbon tax
38 Climate Change
Value-at-risk carbon tax
39 Financial Instability
Adopt a common currency
40 Climate Change
A carbon tax starting at $2 and ending at $20
Website
Economist Bjorn Lomborg makes a persuasive case for prioritizing the world's biggest problems, asking "If we had $50 billion to spend over the next four years to do good in the world, where should we spend it?" His recommendations - based on the findings of the 2004 Copenhagen Consensus - controversially place global warming at the bottom of the list (and AIDS prevention at the top). Lomborg was named one of the 100 Most Influential People by Time magazine after the publication of his controversial book, The Skeptical Environmentalist which challenged widely-held beliefs that the environment is getting worse. Now the Danish economist is taking on the world's biggest problems with his Copenhagen Consensus. (Recorded February 2005 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 17:27)
http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=b_lomborg
The meeting brought together a number of UN ambassadors and set focus on the issue of prioritising the use of limited resources in the global effort to mitigate the negative consequences of ten global challenges such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, hunger and climate change. The event raised the question:
In a world of limited ressources, if we cannot do everything at once, what should we do first?
The ambassadors met in closed sessions to discuss and prioritize solutions to ten of the world's biggest challenges. The event was an important way of encouraging the UN system as well as UN member countries to work transparently and realistically with priorization in their work with the world's biggest challenges (for further details see 'background').
The book How to Spend $50 Billion to Make the World a Better Place provides summaries of the economic background papers and the academic foundation of the conference.
[size=+2]Top Ten[/size]
[size=+1]----challenge
opportunity
[/size]
1 Communicable Diseases
Scaled-up basic health services
2 Sanitation and Water
Community-managed water supply and sanitation
3 Communicable Diseases
Control of HIV/AIDS
4 Communicable Diseases
Control of malaria
5 Malnutrition and Hunger
Improving infant and child nutrition
6 Malnutrition and Hunger
Reducing micro nutrient deficiencies
7 Sanitation and Water
Small-scale water technology for livelihoods
8 Malnutrition and Hunger
Investment in technology in developing country agriculture
9 Education
Reductions in the cost of schooling to increase demand
10 Education
Physical expansion
[size=+2]Bottom Ten[/size]
[size=+1]----challenge
opportunity
[/size]
31 Conflicts
Shortening conflicts: Natural resource tracking
32 Migration
Active immigration policies
33 Financial Instability
International solution to the currency
34 Financial Instability
Re-regulate domestic financial markets
35 Financial Instability
Reimpose capital controls
36 Subsidies and Trade Barriers
Full reform: 100% liberalization
37 Climate Change
Optimal carbon tax
38 Climate Change
Value-at-risk carbon tax
39 Financial Instability
Adopt a common currency
40 Climate Change
A carbon tax starting at $2 and ending at $20
Website
Economist Bjorn Lomborg makes a persuasive case for prioritizing the world's biggest problems, asking "If we had $50 billion to spend over the next four years to do good in the world, where should we spend it?" His recommendations - based on the findings of the 2004 Copenhagen Consensus - controversially place global warming at the bottom of the list (and AIDS prevention at the top). Lomborg was named one of the 100 Most Influential People by Time magazine after the publication of his controversial book, The Skeptical Environmentalist which challenged widely-held beliefs that the environment is getting worse. Now the Danish economist is taking on the world's biggest problems with his Copenhagen Consensus. (Recorded February 2005 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 17:27)
http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=b_lomborg
I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
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