The inspiration behind the Copenhagen Consensus project originated from a staff group headed by the former Director of Environmental Assessment Institute Bjorn Lomborg in late 2002.

The basic idea was to improve prioritization of the numerous problems the world faces, by gathering some of the world's greatest economists to a meeting where some of the biggest challenges in the world would be assessed.

The unique approach was to use an expert panel to make a ranking of various economic estimates of opportunities that would meet these challenges. Thorough challenge papers were commissioned from leading specialists - the challenge paper authors - for each challenge.

The outcome should be a prioritized list of opportunities meeting the biggest challenges. This list could be beneficial to decision-makers all over the world.