Best things first

First, we need to prioritize which targets matter most. For most people, less hunger and better education matters more than well-meaning pledges. For about $41 billion per year, we can save 4.2 million lives annual...

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Best Buys for Africa

No nation can tackle all problems at once. Resources are limited, including money, time, manpower and attention. Hence, it might make sense to first focus where the used resources can achieve the highest impacts on ...

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Malawi Priorities

Malawi Priorities is a research-based collaborative project implemented by the National Planning Commission with technical support from the African Institute for Development Policy and the Copenhagen Consensus Cente...

Child playing, Malawi Priorities

Ghana Priorities

The Ghanaian economy has been growing swiftly, with remarkable GDP growth. But like every country, Ghana lacks the money to do everything that citizens would like. It has to prioritise between many worthy opportunit...

Ghana

Cost-effectiveness of Maternal and Newborn Health Interventions

A new report by global health experts Ingrid K. Friberg and Eva Weissman for Copenhagen Consensus, supported by funding from Merck for Mothers, attempts to add novel presentations of cost efficiency and impact to th...

Cost-effectiveness of Maternal and Newborn Health Interventions

India Consensus

"I want your help in prioritzing the SDGs" Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chair, NITI Aayog. High level representatives from 32 States and Union Territories, Joint Secretaries from 14 Ministries, senior officers fro...

India Consensus Niti Event

Rajasthan Priorities

“I’d be happy to repeat this exercise in more states. The Rajasthan Consensus Project did an excellent job of bringing together various ideas focused on improving the socio-economic status of the State of Rajasthan ...

Rajasthan Priorities

Andhra Pradesh Priorities

“It’s a very good study and I am very happy with it. I invite Andhra Pradesh Priorities to present an Action Plan for implementation.” - Chief Minister Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu

Andhra Pradesh Priorities

Think Tank of the Year

The Copenhagen Consensus Center is the winner of Prospect Magazine’s 2016 Think Tank of the Year award in the “International Affairs” category.

Think Tank of the Year

Nobel Laureates’ Guide

Prioritizing just 19 of the UN’s 169 global targets would be equivalent to doubling or quadrupling foreign aid. There’s a moral imperative to get these choices right.

Nobel Laureates’ Guide

Making Real Impact

Our research is routinely cited by policymakers and NGOs. We provide crucial data and insight into some of the world’s most intractable problems, allowing governments and aid agencies to make smart decisions and ach...

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Real People, Real Problems

Copenhagen Consensus interviewed more than 50 people, all around the world - to ask them about their priorities and concerns.

Real People, Real Problems

Ranking Smart Solutions

Every four years, Copenhagen Consensus hosts a high profile thought experiment on how to spend a hypothetical extra $75 billion to solve twelve major problems.

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    Copenhagen Consensus Center

    The Copenhagen Consensus Center is a think tank that researches and publishes the smartest solutions to the world's biggest problems. Our studies are conducted by more than 300 economists from internationally renowned institutions, including seven Nobel Laureates, to advise policymakers and philanthropists how to achieve the best results with their limited resources. 

    Copenhagen Consensus is an outstanding, visionary idea and deserves global coverage” 

    - The Economist

    The Center was voted Think Tank of the Year in International Affairs (US) by Prospect Magazine, and our advocacy for data-driven prioritization has been repeatedly voted one of the top 20 campaigns worldwide in a think tank survey conducted by the University of Pennsylvania.

    In a hurry? Watch the short video below to learn more about the Copenhagen Consensus Center or read more about our story.

    The smartest solutions for Ghana’s future development

    We are very interested in continuing to work with Ghana to help make sure that this research translates into action on value-for-money policies which will help to boost the country’s social development and economic potential.”

    - Copenhagen Consensus Center director Dr. Bjorn Lomborg

    Recently, an eminent panel of seven distinguished economists met in Accra to evaluate more than 1000 pages of research across all sectors of government. The panel includes Finance Minister Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, Planning Minister Prof. George Gyan-Baffour, former Finance Minister Prof. Kwesi Botchwey, Prof. Augustin Fosu from the University of Ghana, Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, Secretary-General of the African Research Universities Alliance, Prof. Eugenia Amporfu from KNUST, and the Nobel Laureate economist, Prof. Finn Kydland.

    Having read all the research, the panel spent three days discussing and challenging the findings with all the specialist economists. In the end, the panel’s hard task was to prioritize where Ghana can best spend public funds.

    The smartest solutions for Ghana’s future development image

    Our Process

    The Copenhagen Consensus prioritization process is the most interesting, innovative and useful approach by any think tank in recent decades."

    - Michael R. Sinclair, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

    The Copenhagen Consensus Center focuses on cost-effective solutions to the world’s biggest challenges. We create a framework to prioritize solutions, with the goal of achieving the most good for people and the planet. Our analyses take into account not just the economic, but also health, social and environmental benefits.

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    Our Projects

    When I first read about it and I saw what India Consensus have been able to do, and the potential for this to be used as a policy tool, I was very excited. Therefore my congratulations to India Consensus. Hopefully this will become an integral part of data-based and critical-based decision making in the country.

    - Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chair, NITI Aayog

    For more than a decade, the Copenhagen Consensus approach has been applied at a global level, mostly recently analyzing the effectiveness of the UN’s global goals for 2016-2030. In 2015, The Copenhagen Consensus Center launched the Bangladesh Priorities project, the flagship country-level prioritization project to apply the Copenhagen Consensus approach on a national scale. The success of Bangladesh Priorities lead to further country-level projects, first in Haiti and most recently India through the India Consensus.

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    Our Impact

    Our research is routinely cited by policymakers and NGOs. We provide crucial data and insight into some of the world’s most intractable problems, allowing governments and aid agencies to make smart decisions and achieve more with their limited resources.

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    Testimonials

    Copenhagen Consensus is a foundation of great international prestige that sponsors many investigations into how to make the best investments to help humanity, protect the environment, generate sustainable development and effective social development. It is a very beautiful organization, with some very clear goals."

    - Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia

    Top philanthropists like Bill Gates and heads of state like Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia and Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark have endorsed the Copenhagen Consensus prioritization approach.

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