The U.N. Chose Way Too Many New Development Goals

After years of build-up, world leaders at the U.N. Friday set some of the most important priorities for the next 15 years, the sustainable development goals.

Trade-Offs for Global Do-Gooders

To cut world poverty, focus on expanding trade and preschool while ending fossil-fuel subsidies.

Unsustainable Development Goals

In short, many of the targets are either marginally useful or highly problematic.

Next-Generation Development

It is morally right that every child should be given the best chance to survive, eat well, stay healthy, and receive an education. Now we also know that it is among the best investments we can make.

These are the four SDGs we need to agree on to help the planet

Tackling indoor air pollution, protecting coral reefs, boosting R&D in cleaner energy and ending subsidies for fossil fuels are the most important sustainable development goals for safeguarding the environment.

Bjorn Lomborg and the List That Could Save the World

Wow, 169, you say? To Björn Lomborg, that sure seems like a lot to bite off. “No one can remember 169 goals,” he says, “never mind actually implement them.”

Smart Development Targets

It turns out that not all targets are equal. Some generate amazing economic, social, and environmental benefits per dollar spent. Many others generate only slightly more than a dollar per dollar spent. Some even generate a net loss, doing less than a dollar of good per dollar spent.

The economics of optimism

The Economist featured an overview of Copenhagen Consensus' ground-breaking research which is shaping the thinking for the 193 governments about to prioritize the smartest development goals for 2016-2030.

Fixing the World, Bang-for-the-Buck Edition

Bjorn Lomborg chats with the Freakonomics podcast –the podcast that explores the hidden side of everything, about the work of the Copenhagen Consensus and the Post-2015 Consensus project.

News

Scroll down for updates on the project: research, events and meetings.

2019-01-30

Published by Justin

Melinda Gates: Why women's and children's health is at risk around the world

Great article by Melinda Gates citing our research. We are excited to be mentioned in such a powerful piece. "The global health funds foster hope and generate opportunities because people who are alive and healthy have the chance to be innovative and productive. According to the Copenhagen...

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2019-01-30

Published by Justin

Bill Gates: The Best Investment I’ve Ever Made

Have you read Bill Gates' article on the best investment he has ever made? If not, check it out! We are so excited to do our part to bring out the evidence on global health investment. "The Copenhagen Consensus Center is a think tank that uses sophisticated algorithms and the best available data to...

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2019-01-23

Published by Justin

5 puzzles in the international economy

Why don’t we spend much more on nutrition and education? The Brookings Institute tackles this question highlighting our research. "The cost-effectiveness of nutrition interventions is well known. According to the Copenhagen Consensus, each dollar spent on nutrition in the first 1,000 days of a...

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2017-02-03

Published by Justin

Copenhagen Consensus one of the world's top think tanks

The University of Pennsylvania asked more than 2,500 journalists, policymakers, donors and scholars to rank the world's best think tanks in 2016 . The Copenhagen Consensus Center is once again acknowledged as a top global and environmental think tank, and its campaigning for evidence-based...

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2016-12-06

Published by Justin

Prospect’s International Affairs 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 for think tanks based in the US. The Center's work was commended by the judges as being “truly innovative and global in its...

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2016-10-26

Published by Justin

The Domestic Violence Crisis

Anke Hoeffler, Research Officer, Department of Economics, University of Oxford joined the Domestic Violence Crisis: Mobilizing the Public and Private Sectors panel presented by The Forum at Harvard T.H. Chan Public School of Health to discuss her work with on the Post-2015 Consensus project and why...

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2016-10-25

Published by Justin

Congratulations to President Juan Manuel Santos for winning the Nobel Peace Prize!

I had the privilege of meeting the President of Colombia to discuss priorities for the implementation of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, last year. We had an excellent discussion about how to make the world a better place as well as achieving the most good for Colombia specifically. It...

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2016-01-21

Published by Justin

Chile brings together thought leaders from around the globe

Bjorn Lomborg with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet at the Congress of the Future . The conference is organized by the Senate of Chile for the exchange of ideas between Chileans and world class thought leaders.

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2015-12-03

Published by Justin

Mark Zuckerberg's billion-dollar chance to change the world

Bjorn Lomborg discusses the smartest ways Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan can spend their money to do the most good based on the Post-2015 Consensus findings. The decision by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan to use 99% of their Facebook shares to fund charitable...

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2015-11-13

Published by Justin

7th World Science Forum

Last week, President of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, Bjorn Lomborg was a guest speaker at the 7th World Science Forum in Budapest. Bjorn was one of four experts chosen to partake in the preliminary panel opening the forum entitled “Sustainability Check 2015.” Bjorn presented the...

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2015-10-16

Published by Justin

Perspectives for the Implementation of the Global Goals

Bjorn Lomborg was invited to address the Bundestag, the German Parliament, on October 14. In light of agreement on the Global Goals by the United Nations in late September, Bjorn presented on “Perspectives for the Implementation of the Global Goals” to the German Bundestag's...

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2015-09-30

Published by Justin

Stepping up fight against domestic violence likely to pay dividends

Post-2015 Consensus research on conflict and violence found that violence against women cost the world $6.3 trillion every year. In an op-ed published by The Age Australia, Bjorn Lomborg discusses Australia’s fight against domestic violence. The Australian government's decision to step up its fight...

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2015-09-29

Published by Justin

The U.N. Chose Way Too Many New Development Goals

The United Nations have approved the Global Goals but did they achieve the most good they could? Bjorn Lomborg discusses in an op-ed published by Time Ideas. After years of build-up, world leaders at the U.N. Friday set some of the most important priorities for the next 15 years, the sustainable...

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2015-09-28

Published by Justin

What Youths Could Teach World Leaders on Development Targets

In a new op-ed published by the Huffington Post, Bjorn Lomborg discusses the top priorities for the post-2015 development agenda as selected by the participating young people of the Post-2015 Consensus Youth Forums. We worked with local partners from civil society to bring together groups of...

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2015-09-28

Published by Justin

U.N. Adopts Ambitious Global Goals After Years of Negotiations

The New York Times has published an article on the passing of the United Nation’s Global Goals. The article reports on the success of the passage after years of negotiations but also makes reference to the many concerns over the ambitiousness of the 17 goals, highlighting quotes from Bjorn Lomborg...

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2015-09-28

Published by Justin

Bjorn Lomborg meets with journalists from Africa, Latin America and South Asia

Bjorn Lomborg met with some journalists from Africa, Latin America and South Asia in New York. The journalists were each winners of Copenhagen Consensus Center Post-2015 Journalist Scholarships which has enabled journalists from Bangladesh, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria and...

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2015-09-24

Published by Justin

Leaders aim for sustainable development after Millennium goals success

The Los Angeles times has published an article reporting on the upcoming approval of the United Nation’s Global Goals, citing the findings of our research and quoting Bjorn Lomborg. Bjorn Lomborg, a Danish economist who has criticized the new goals as overly broad, said a narrower approach would...

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2015-09-21

Published by Justin

Trade-Offs for Global Do-Gooders

In a new article published by the Wall Street Journal, Bjorn Lomborg discusses what the United Nations should prioritize for the Agenda for Sustainable Development to do the most good for the world. Later this week, world leaders will gather in New York at the United Nations to endorse...

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2015-09-17

Published by Justin

Unsustainable Development Goals

Bjorn Lomborg discusses the finalization of the United Nations' Agenda for Sustainable Development. In short, many of the targets are either marginally useful or highly problematic. Making matters worse, collecting data on the 169 promises could cost almost two years of development aid. As a result...

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2015-09-15

Published by Justin

The buzz from the #FutureFortified Global Summit in Tanzania

This past week Bjorn Lomborg spoke at the #FutureFortified, a three day global summit aimed at boosting interest and awareness in food fortification. In the following news clip released by Devex, Bjorn speaks to why nutrition is such a smart investment for the world. How can the world solve the...

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2015-08-16

Published by Justin

Pick solutions that offer highest social and environmental returns: Bjorn Lomborg

The Times of India featured an interview with Bjorn Lomborg discussing smart post-2015 development targets. Controversial Danish environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg, who upended conventional wisdom with his book, The Sceptical Environmentalist, has been on an interesting mission: to identify the top...

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2015-08-15

Published by Justin

Weighing The World

Recent graduate of Cambridge University, Markus Anderljung wrote his masters dissertation on the Post-2015 Consensus. The entire dissertation is available for download following the brief summary. A Review of Some Ethical Critiques of the CCC The Copenhagen Consensus Centre (CCC) seeks to inform...

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2015-08-14

Published by Justin

Next-Generation Development

Bjorn Lomborg’s august contribution to Project Syndicate discusses the effects that smart post-2015 development targets can have on the lives children. Our analysis identified 19 targets that would do the most good for every dollar spent. In fact, each dollar spent on these 19 targets would do...

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2015-08-05

Published by Justin

These are the four SDGs we need to agree on to help the planet

In contrast to the MDGs, the Sustainable Development Goals include a large number of environmental targets. Bjorn Lomborg explains in The Guardian which are among the best: Economic analysis shouldn’t be the only tool that we use, but it is a vital input to help decision-makers – whether...

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2015-07-30

Published by Justin

Fewer, effective development goals will help India much more

Bjron Lomborg dicusses the smartest post-2015 development targets for a prosperous India Over the last 15 years, India has experienced large strides in its development, not the least urged by the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for 2015. Impressively, India has reached the target of...

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2015-07-28

Published by Justin

The Best Ways to Fight Extreme Poverty

Bjorn Lomborg's July contribution to Project Syndicate address poverty targets for the post-2015 development agenda. In 1950, people in South Korea and Pakistan earned roughly the same amount of money annually. Today, the two countries are scarcely comparable. South Korean’s per capita income has...

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2015-07-24

Published by Justin

How to Write the Worlds To-Do List

The New Yorker reports on both Bjorn Lomborg and the work of the Post-2015 Consensus Project. Having 1,400 targets is like having none at all, and so governments need to make some hard choices, deciding which targets will offer the greatest returns on investment,’’ Bjørn Lomborg, the president of...

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2015-07-24

Published by Justin

Bjorn Lomborg and the List That Could Save the World

Today’s Ozy has published a profile on Bjorn Lomborg and his advocacy for smart development targets for the post-2015 development agenda. So what would Bjorn do? Conjure in your mind a skyscraper-size red pen, or maybe your favorite machete. With his Copenhagen Consensus, a research project based...

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2015-07-20

Published by Justin

Fewer, effective development goals will help India much more

Bjorn Lomborg discusses the benefits that prioritizing smart post-2015 targets will have on India. When it comes to health, the eradication of tuberculosis should be prioritised. In India, over 2 million develop TB every year, with more than a quarter million dying. Each hour, around 30 Indians die...

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2015-07-15

Published by Justin

Here's how to wipe malaria off the map

A huge global commitment to reducing malaria has paid off and the goal of near zero deaths from the disease is realistic and affordable. A new article in the Guardian which cites our work on smart health targets for the post-2015 development agenda, asks ‘What are we waiting for?’ It might sound...

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2015-07-14

Published by Justin

$100 billion for malaria prevention and treatment

This week in Addis, governments agreed to pledge $100 billion in malaria prevention and treatment. The report cites the work of the Copenhagen Consensus, stating that cost-benefit assessment conducted on the goals and targets of the post-2015 development agenda also found robust evidence that the...

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2015-07-10

Published by Justin

Successors to Millennium Development Goals should be achievable - and clearly written

Dr. Lomborg met with Prof. Bibek Debroy in Delhi at NITI Aayog, the think tank of Indian Government. By 2030 reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births." Everyone understands what this statement means. It is simple, comprehensible, concise, specific and...

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2015-07-03

Published by Justin

One-Third Of World Doesn't Have A Toilet. Here's What It Will Take To Change That

Katy Daigle of Associated Press published an article entitled “One-Third of World Doesn’t Have a Toilet. Here’s What It Will Take to Change That”. The article delves deeper into the challenge of open defecation facing many countries, citing our findings on the smartest post-2015 targets for water...

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2015-07-01

Published by Justin

Roads, railways and research can stop global food waste

Investing in agricultural R&D to boost yields and reduce food prices for poor people is one of the smartest things the world should focus on and is among the smartest targets as chosen our expert panel. Bjorn Lomborg discusses that value of investing in agricultural research in development in...

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2015-06-19

Published by Justin

Wasting Food in a Hungry World

Bjorn Lomborg’s newest contribution to Project Syndicate discusses the topic of ‘food security’ and smart ways the post-2015 development agenda can help. One-quarter of all the food in the world is lost each year, owing to inefficient harvesting, inadequate storage, and wastage in the kitchen...

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2015-06-17

Published by Justin

Opinion Journal: Bang for the Development Buck

If you ask everyone don’t be surprised that you end up with lots and lots of targets." Bjorn Lomborg stopped by the Wall Street Journal’s Opinion Journal to discuss how the United Nations can set rational targets for the post-2015 development agenda with Mary Kissel, WSJ Editorial Board Member...

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2015-06-10

Published by Justin

Sustainable Development Goals are not fit for purpose, experts warn

EurActive published an article which reports on the findings of the Post-2015 Consensus project. The United Nations has drawn up a list of 169 targets to replace the Millennium Development Goals, which expire at the end of this year. Experts have warned that this will stretch development budgets...

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2015-06-08

Published by Justin

Fed up with UK aid being frittered away? Here are 19 things it should really be spent on...

On Sunday, David Cameron will meet fellow world leaders at the G7 conference in Germany. There he has an opportunity to quadruple the reach of British and global aid without spending an extra penny. To do so, he must convince the G7 – representing the biggest global donors – to get serious about...

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2015-06-03

Published by Justin

Building Awareness Around The Globe

There is still much awareness building work to be done in order to ensure the United Nations decides an ambitious albeit concise list of smart targets for the world. That is why Bjorn Lomborg traveled around the world to brief aid agencies, policy advisors, experts and key stake holders; as well as...

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2015-06-03

Published by Justin

Talk at USAID

On 2nd June, Bjorn Lomborg presented the work of the Post-2015 Consensus and the expert panel’s 19 smartest targets for the world, at the United States' Agency for International Development (USAID) . The talk was host by USAID’s Chief Economist, Steve Radelet and was attended by many high ranking...

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2015-06-01

Published by Justin

German Development Bank

On Thursday the 28th of May, Bjorn Lomborg was the guest of honor at the German Development Bank where he delivered a presentation on the Post-2015 Smartest Targets for the World to an audience of 50+ politicians, policy advisers, NGO experts and bank officials. The meeting was hosted by Dr. Zeuner...

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2015-05-21

Published by Justin

Smart Development Targets

In his May contribution to Project Syndicate Bjorn Lomborg discusses the 19 most bang-for-the-buck targets for post-2015 as selected by our expert panel. It turns out that not all targets are equal. Some generate amazing economic, social, and environmental benefits per dollar spent. Many others...

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2015-05-18

Published by Justin

Widespread male circumcision could prevent more than a million HIV infections

The Harvard School of Public Health published an interview with Till Bärnighausen, associate professor in the Department of Global Health and Population and co-author of our perspective paper on HIV/AIDS. It’s cheap, and it can be done safely, including by nurses and clinical officers,” said...

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2015-05-04

Published by Justin

Smartest targets for the world decided by youth

With the conclusion of the post-2015 youth forums in various countries, Bjorn Lomborg has begun writing a series of country specific op-ed articles which discuss the post-2015 target selected by the young people in each country. So far, these articles have been published in Colombia , Ecuador ,...

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2015-05-04

Published by Justin

President Santos receives the proposal of international experts to the Post Agenda 2015

Bjorn Lomborg met with the president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, to discuss the importance of prioritizing smart targets within the post-2015 development agenda. President Juan Manuel Santos welcomed the expert panel outcome document findings of the 19 most bang-for-the-buck post-2015 targets...

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2015-04-30

Published by Justin

Bjorn Lomborg Gives Talk at Harvard

Bjorn Lomborg recently presented the findings of the Post-2015 Consensus on the smartest global targets for the next 15 years at Harvard University, where he also talked to Harvard's "Effective Altruism" students and the annual Harvard Ministerial Forum for Finance Ministers which brings together...

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2015-04-30

Published by Justin

Bjorn Lomborg Featured Speaker at The Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship

The Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship is the premier international platform for advancing entrepreneurial approaches and solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. Our mission is to accelerate the impact of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs by uniting them with essential...

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2015-04-27

Published by Justin

The surprising problem that is the greatest environmental danger to women and children.

The world’s greatest environmental threat disproportionately harms women and children, particularly in the developing world: it is indoor air pollution. The World Health Organization estimates that indoor pollution kills 4.3 million people a year, mainly because 2.8 billion people still use...

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2015-04-24

Published by Justin

Smart development goals: To get the biggest bang for every buck, paint a bull's eye on 19 specific targets

Nobel Laureate economists Finn Kydland and Thomas Schelling, together with University of Chicago professor Nancy Stokey, have prioritised the 19 best value-for-money targets for the world to focus on over the next 15 years. Together with Bjorn Lomborg, they write in the world's biggest English-...

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2015-04-24

Published by Justin

The Right Health Investments

Bjorn’s April contribution to Project Syndicate discusses health targets for the post-2015 development agenda. Specifically, the results from our research on smart targets to tackle infectious diseases. West Africa’s Ebola epidemic has dominated headlines for much of the last year. But, as...

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2015-04-15

Published by Justin

Getting the word out

Over the past 18 months, the Post-2015 Consensus brought together renowned experts from the United Nations (UN), non-governmental (NGO) and private sectors with 60 teams of economists to produce 100+ research papers to establish the most effective targets for the post-2015 development agenda within...

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2015-04-09

Published by Justin

Push for Cleaner Stoves in Poor Countries to Cut Pollution

Do you know what black carbon is? It is killing millions of Indian women each year as reported in an article by the Associated Press. The article cites the findings from Post-2015 Consensus research on smart solutions to tackle air pollution as well as quotes Bjorn Lomborg on what are the best bang...

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2015-03-26

Published by Justin

The 169 commandments

The Economist has published an interesting article detailing the problem with an exhaustive list of proposed sustainable development goals. The SDGs are supposed to set out how to improve the lives of the poor in emerging countries, and how to steer money and government policy towards areas where...

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2015-03-26

Published by Justin

The good, the bad and the hideous

The Economist has published a new article which reports on the expert panel’s recommendations for the post-2015 development agenda. Those conclusions contain a warning for the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which set targets for 2030. Overall, countries are better off than they used...

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2015-03-26

Published by Justin

Limit UN development goals for 2030, get more value for money

Upon the release of the recommendations from the Post-2015 Consensus expert panel , major news sources around the world including, Germany's newspaper of record, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Reuters begun to report on expert panel’s 19 targets that represent the best value-for-money in...

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2015-03-20

Published by Justin

Bjorn Lomborg Presents on Post-2015 Consensus

On March 17th 2015, Dr. Lomborg visited the University of Western Australia to give a lecture entitlted "What's the Smartest Targets For The World 2016-2030", on the work being done by the Post-2015 Consensus project. The lecture was presented by both the University of Western Australia Business...

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2015-03-18

Published by Justin

Time to focus on fight against TB

New Age reports on the Bangladesh focused seminar on the post-2015 development agenda. Bangladesh, around 80,000 people die every year of tuberculosis — a disease that is now completely curable at low cost. Quoting the World Health Organisation, Dr Anna Vassall of London School of Hygiene and...

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2015-03-12

Published by Justin

The Price of Biodiversity

In his March contribution to Project Syndicate Bjorn Lomborg addresses the inclusion of biodiversity targets within the post-2015 development agenda. Preserving biodiversity, it turns out, is not only desirable; according to three new studies by the economists Anil Markandya, Luke Brander, and...

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2015-03-02

Published by Justin

Nigerian youths set out to define UN post-2015 goals

The Cable reports on Post-2015 Consensus youth forums taking place in Nigeria. They are eight international development goals adopted based on the United Nations Millennium Declaration to include poverty alleviation, combating HIV/AIDS, universal primary education, environmental sustainability,...

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2015-03-02

Published by Justin

The spread of western disease: 'The poor are dying more and more like the rich'

The Guardian has published an op-ed article by Bjorn Lomborg discussing the findings from our research focused on post-2015 development targets to address non-communicable diseases. In rich countries, the biggest killers are strokes, heart attacks and cancer, accounting for more than two-thirds of...

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2015-02-23

Published by Justin

Better Infrastructure Would Cut Food Waste

Sara Schonhardt of the Wall Street Journal writes an illuminating article reporting on the main findings from our food security assessment paper. According to a recent study by the Copenhagen Consensus Center, a think tank the focuses on international development, between 10-50% of all crops are...

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2015-02-18

Published by Justin

Gender Equality as a Development Goal

In his February contribution to project syndicate, Bjorn Lomborg discusses how gender equality can be addressed within the post-2015 development agenda. It is clear that gender equality has a number of important components, but reproduction is a key issue in determining life opportunities. In...

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2015-02-09

Published by Justin

Post-2015 Agenda should address disparity in gender equality efforts – Youth

Ghana News Agency reports on the first of 15 youth forums to be hosted at Regent University College of Science and Technology in Ghana. Students at the Regent University College of Science and Technology in Accra, have urged the United Nations to seriously consider addressing the issue of...

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2015-02-09

Published by Justin

Post-2015 Consensus Youth Forum Kick Off

Students from Regent University College of Science and Technology in Ghana kicked off the inaugural Post-2015 Consensus Youth Forum. Present to facilitate the forum were Mr. Nelson Amo and Mr. Douglas Quartey, the Programs Coordinator and Programs Manager respectively at Youth Bridge Foundation. Dr...

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2015-02-06

Published by Justin

Investments in water in poor nations give big benefits: World Bank

Reuters has released a new article which reports on the findings from our research series on water and sanitation targets for the post-2015 development agenda. Overall, building toilets to eliminate defecation outside in rural areas would cost $13 billion a year to 2030 and give benefits of $84...

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2015-01-29

Published by Justin

Build better roads in developing world to bolster food supplies

Reuters has released an article which discusses the findings for Food Security and Nutrition. A total of $239 billion invested over the next 15 years, in road and railway connections to connect farms to markets and in electricity supplies to improve cold storage, would yield benefits of $3.1...

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2015-01-27

Published by Justin

Strengthen Health Systems To Reduce Premature Deaths

Low-income countries, where the world's poorest one billion live, will spend a measly $14 per person on public health care this year. So what are the smartest post-2015 targets for health? Bjorn Lomborg discusses on Time. There are lots of excellent proposals to address particular health challenges...

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2015-01-23

Published by Justin

The economics of optimism

The debate heats up about what goals the world should set itself for 2030 The Economist has featured the work of the Post-2015 Consensus project. The article gives an overview of some of the most bang-for-the-buck targets established by our 60 teams of economist and gives reason why narrowing the...

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2015-01-22

Published by Justin

How can U.N. measure if better governance programs work?

Reuters has published an article reporting on the findings from our research on governance targets for the post-2015 development agenda. The article entitled “How can U.N. measure if better governance programs work?" interviews both Mary Hilderbrand, author of the main assessment paper and Aart...

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2015-01-19

Published by Justin

Ebola kills far fewer than Aids, TB and malaria. What should we prioritize?

The Guardian has published an article by Bjorn Lomborg which reports on the findings from our research on post-2015 health targets in regard to infectious diseases. Ebola got most of the attention in 2014. It killed about 8,000 people. Meanwhile, over the same period of time about 3.6 million...

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2015-01-16

Published by Justin

The Digital Road From Poverty

Bjorn Lomborg’s January contribution to Project Syndicate discusses the role broadband could play in alleviating poverty. In a new analysis , Emmanuelle Auriol and Alexia Lee González Fanfalone of the Toulouse School of Economics suggest that broadband could be one of the best investments for the...

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2015-01-16

Published by Justin

Better stoves can reduce indoor pollution

China Daily has published Bjorn Lomborg’s op-ed discussing the findings from our research on air pollution targets in the post-2015 development agenda. Air quality has improved dramatically in rich countries over the past century. Yet air pollution is still a huge problem, especially in the...

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2015-01-13

Published by Justin

Measuring the Next Global Development Goals

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently proposed establishing a “comprehensive program of action on data” for the SDGs. But proper data for the currently proposed 169 targets could cost as much as 1/8th of all aid. So how much are we willing to spend on measuring the post-2015 development agenda...

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2015-01-13

Published by Justin

Smart Ways to Tackle Poverty

The Huffington Post has published an op-ed by Bjorn Lomborg which discusses the findings from our research on post-2015 targets to address Poverty. Extreme poverty -- by current reckoning, living on less than $1.25 a day -- is a continuing problem for far too many people in today's world. It is...

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2014-12-16

Published by Brad

AFP broadband infrastructure article goes global

AFP has published a report about the Center's latest paper on broadband infrastructure which has been syndicated globally including to Russia , Indonesia , South Africa , UK , USA , Australia , Thailand , Malaysia and Switzerland . The article highlights how increasing broadband access in the...

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2014-12-11

Published by Justin

Wider Broadband Helps Growth, But Not Like Battling Some Illnesses

The Wall Street Journal has published an article reporting on the findings from our research for infrastructure targets for the post-2015 development agenda. Expanding broadband access through wireless networks would be cheaper than building fixed wireline networks, however the benefits would be...

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2014-12-10

Published by Justin

How to Save More Than 14 Million Newborns By 2030

We would be wise to target neonatal deaths and cervical cancer. Time.com has published Bjorn Lomborg’s new op-ed discussing the results from two health perspective papers written for the Post-2015 Consensus. The first paper is written by Günther Fink, from the Harvard School of Public Health and is...

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2014-12-08

Published by Justin

United Nations debates new goals for making world a better place

The Sydney Morning Herald has published an article which interviews Bjorn Lomborg and reports on the work of the Post-2015 Consensus to insert a cost-benefit perspective into post-2015 development agenda in order to ensure only smart targets are selected by the UN. "Not all targets are equally...

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2014-12-04

Published by Roland

Word Cloud of Secretary-General's Synthesis Report

Ban Ki Mon just released his synthesis report "meant to offer some conceptual guidance for the work ahead" with negotiating the development agenda for the next 15 years. In his statement to the General Assembly he stressed the importance of fewer targets: Let us recall that the Rio+20 outcome...

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2014-11-28

Published by Justin

Childhood nutrition is the most critical and economically sound intervention, finds a new study

The Guardian has published an op-ed by Bjorn Lomborg which dicusses the findings from our Nutrition perspective paper written by Professor Susan Horton from University of Waterloo and professor John Hoddinott from Cornell. We asked two of the world’s leading experts on nutrition and economics to...

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2014-11-28

Published by Justin

Bringing the Post-2015 Development Agenda Home to East Africans

The East African , is a weekly newspaper published in Kenya and circulated within Kenya and the other countries of the African Great Lakes region, including Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. It contains stories and in-depth analysis from each country in the region, in addition to international stories...

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2014-11-25

Published by Justin

Post-2015 Consensus Research Cited in Reuters

Reuters has published an article reporting on the link between extreme weather in Peru and the country’s number of stunted children. The article cites the findings from our research paper on nutrition targets for the post-2015 development agenda. Another report on Tuesday suggested that investments...

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2014-11-25

Published by Justin

Study Ties Children's Nutrition to Indonesia's Future

The Wall Street Journal has published an article reporting on the findings from our research on the cost and benefits of nutrition targets for the post-2015 development agenda. The article emphasis what these findings mean for Indonesia – one of the countries which could benefit most from a post-...

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2014-11-24

Published by Justin

The United Nations needs a shorter, stronger game plan for humanity

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will soon be responding to the United Nation’s proposed 169 targets for the post-2015 development agenda. It is clear that having 169 priorities is like having none at all but what targets should Ban Ki-moon trim from the vast 169? This is the question that Bjorn...

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2014-11-21

Published by Justin

Get real, swap some ambitious targets for achievable ones

The Economic Times of India has published the first article of 19 op-ed articles written by Bjorn Lomborg to be released over the coming weeks. The op-ed articles will discuss the results from each topic covered by the post-2015 consensus but with a specific focus on what these findings mean for...

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2014-11-14

Published by Justin

The Population Challenge

As part of a monthly contribution to Project Syndicate, Bjorn Lomborg has written an article covering the topic of population within the post-2015 development agenda. When people think of the world’s “population problem,” they often focus on rapid demographic growth in parts of the developing world...

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2014-11-13

Published by Justin

With the MDGs ending in 2015, we have to ask - what is next?

Devex, a media platform for the global development community which aims to connect and inform on issues like development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability, has recently featured an article written by Bjorn Lomborg. The article is entitled “Smarter targets for the UN: The best thing any of...

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2014-11-03

Published by Justin

Biodiversity: What's Worth Saving?

In an op-ed published on Huffington Post Bjorn Lomborg discusses the findings from our research papers on biodiversity targets for the post-2015 development agenda. The op-ed begs the question “What’s worth saving?” How can we put a price tag on Biodiversity? Biodiversity - the range of species we...

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2014-10-28

Published by Justin

Why embracing freer trade could be our best chance to help the world's poor

City A.M. a large business focused newspaper based in London has printed Bjorn Lomborg’s op-ed entitled “Why embracing freer trade could be our best chance to help the world’s poor.” The article discusses the findings from our assessment paper on Trade targets for the post-2015 agenda. Analysis...

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2014-10-27

Published by Justin

It's Time to Give Up the Two Degree Target

Forbes.com has published a op-ed by Bjorn Lomborg in which Bjorn discusses the findings from our set of reports regarding climate change. Economist Isabel Galiana has written the main paper on climate change and comes to a conclusion which is sure to be controversial: that present policies designed...

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2014-10-21

Published by Justin

Promises to Keep Crafting Better Development Goals

The November/December 2014 issue of Foreign Affairs features an 8 page article by Bjorn Lomborg. The article entitled “Promises to Keep Crafting Better Development Goals”, highlights the work of the Post-2015 Consensus project and the valuable knowledge the project is injecting into the post-2015...

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2014-10-21

Published by Justin

Free trade will generate $500 trillion

Die Welt, one of Germany's major national newspapers released an article reporting on the findings from our research papers on trade targets for the post-2015 development agenda. Bjorn Lomborg is interviewed throughout the article entitled “Freihandel soll 500 Billionen Dollar erwirtschaften / Free...

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2014-10-21

Published by Justin

WTO Doha deal would make world $11-trillion richer by 2030: Economists

AFP, one of the world's three largest international news agencies has published an article entitled “WTO Doha deal would make world $11-trillion richer by 2030: Economists” which reports on the findings from our research papers on trade targets for the post-2015 development agenda. Economists...

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2014-10-16

Published by Justin

Dirty Development Money

When we think about development priorities, we think of disease, nutrition and education, but actually illicit financial flows is a big player. In fact, 20 sub-Saharan Africa countries have lost more than 10% of their GDPs every year since 1980 to illicit financial flows but not many of us know...

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2014-10-16

Published by Justin

Feeding people is smart: It's the best investment to do good in the world

Economic Times, India’s largest business newspaper has published an op-ed article by Bjorn Lomborg which addresses the world’s hunger problem. While the world is on track to meet the millennium development goal of halving the proportion of people suffering from hunger, nutrition will remain a...

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2014-10-14

Published by Justin

A Growing list of news sources has begun continual coverage of the Post-2015 Consensus

We're pleased to announce that 20 major newspapers around the world will be publishing articles discussing the findings of our reports from each of the 18 topic areas . The list includes news sources such as the Mail & Guardian, the oldest quality newspaper in South Africa. In addition to:...

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2014-10-13

Published by Justin

Seven value-for-money ways to save the world

The Telegraph UK has published an op-ed by Bjorn Lomborg in which Bjorn gives a great over view of the UN's post-2015 development agenda and discusses the core findings from seven of our research areas including: Population and Demography Illicit Financial Flows Conflict and Violence Science and...

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2014-10-09

Published by Justin

More or Better Development Data? Yes, Please...

Morten Jerven author of our assessment paper for Data for Development has written a great article for the Huffington Post. In the article Jerven illustrates why improved data monitoring will be so important for the post-2015 SDGs. I propose two ground rules for debating SDGs. First, for every...

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2014-10-03

Published by Justin

Clean cooking and better sources of energy can have a domino effect on health and education

Time.com has published an op-ed article by Bjorn Lomborg discussing the findings from our recent set of research papers focused on Energy. The key message of the report: increasing access to modern energy is an important driver of development and could save millions of lives each year by reducing...

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2014-10-03

Published by Justin

Freakonomics - Fixing the World, Bang-for-the-Buck Edition

“Here’s $2.5 trillion. You have 15 years to spend it. How do you distribute this money in a way that will achieve the most good for the world?” This is the question Bjorn Lomborg discusses on a recent freakonomics podcast. Freakonomics podcast –the podcast that explores the hidden side of...

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2014-09-24

Published by Justin

Cost of gathering data on new development goals could be crippling

The Guardian has published Bjorn’s Lomborg’s latest op-ed which dicusses the findings from the Copenhagen Center’s latest set of research papers focused on the UN ‘data revolution’. The article begs the questions Have we met the millennium development goals? Which targets are closest? As Bjorn...

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2014-09-24

Published by Justin

World risks spending $250 billion just to monitor U.N. development goals

Reuters has published a new article which reports on the findings from our research on Data for Development targets for the post-2015 development agenda. The report by Morten Jerven, a development expert at Simon Fraser University in Canada, estimated that each new target would cost $1.5 billion if...

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2014-09-19

Published by Justin

Visas Best Bet to Strengthen Technology in Developing Countries, Paper Argues

Ian Talley of the Wall Street Journal reports on the findings from our research on Science and Technology targets for the post-2015 development agenda. The idea is for a regional agreement—such as across the Americas—that allows free international movement for a certain number of skilled workers...

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2014-09-17

Published by Justin

The Economics of Violence

What is the biggest source of violence in our world? Surprisingly, it is not civil war as the news would have most of us believe but domestic abuse. In this op-ed by Bjorn Lomborg discusses this surprising finding as well as the results from our set of papers focused on conflict and violence for...

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2014-09-17

Published by Justin

How to Make the World's Poor $500 Billion Richer

Time.com has published an op-ed article by Bjorn Lomborg in which he discuesses the role of Science and Technology in the post-2015 development agenda. In the article Lomborg highlights the key findings from set of research papers written for the Post-2015 Consensus. Professor Keith E. Maskus from...

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2014-09-16

Published by Justin

East African Begins Publishing Post-2015 Consensus News Series

The East African, a weekly newspaper published in Kenya has started publishing an on-going series of op-ed articles written by Bjorn Lomborg. Each op-ed focuses on the key findings of our research papers with a detailed focus on how the targets relate to Africa. You can now read the op-ed...

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2014-09-16

Published by Justin

CNN Live interviews Anke Hoeffler co-author of our conflict and violence assessment paper.

Anke Hoeffler, Research Officer at Oxford and co-author of our assessment paper on conflict and violence targets for the post-2015 development agenda was interviewed last week by CNN Live. Click here to watch the full interview.

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2014-09-12

Published by Justin

Benefits and Costs of Conflict and Violence Garners Global Attention

Major news sources around the world including: Times of India , Japan Times , Chicago Tribune , Al Jazeera , La Razon (Spain), O Globo (Brazil), Daily Mail (UK), Corriere della Sera (Italy), Index (Croatia), Heti Világgazdaság (Hungary), The Star (Malaysia) EuroNews (Europe) and ET Today (China)...

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2014-09-10

Published by Justin

Violence between individuals 'kills nine times more people' than wars

The Guardian has published an article reporting on the findings from Anke Hoeffler and James Fearon’s research paper focused on conflict and violence targets for the post-2015 development agenda, commissioned by Copenhagen Consensus Center. The article highlights the findings of the paper related...

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2014-09-09

Published by Justin

Violence at home costs $8 trillion a year, worse than war

Reuters has just published a new article entitled “Violence at home costs $8 trillion a year, worse than war – study.” The article gives a great overview of the findings from our most recent set of research papers which analyze conflict and violence targets in the post-2015...

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2014-09-05

Published by Justin

Developing Countries Could Reap Trillions

The Wall Street Journal has published a new article entitled “Developing Countries Could Reap Trillions by Squashing Financial Secrecy, Paper Says.” The article details the findings from Alex Cobham’s assessment paper in regard to Illicit Financial Flow targets for the Post-2015 development agenda...

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2014-09-04

Published by Justin

How to raise $770bn for African Development

Upon the release of our latest research on Illicit Financial Flows, news outlets in Africa have become interested, as the research points out that curbing Illicit Financial Flows has a particular importance in Africa. The Daily Graphic a main news source for Ghana has recently published an op-ed...

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2014-08-27

Published by Sarah

Assessment of Final OWG Report featured in Financial Times

After one and a half years of deliberations, consultations, and negotiations, the UN’s Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals released its final outcome document. Building upon the analyses conducted for the 11th and 12th sessions of the OWG, and the draft documents released then...

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2014-08-27

Published by Justin

Sparking Global Attention for Smart Education Targets

The recent article written by Bjorn Lomborg, focused on the education targets for the Post-2015 development agenda, has begun to attain major global attention. Immediately after publication on Project Syndicate , the article was released by major news outlets in both Turkey by Today's Zaman and...

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2014-08-27

Published by Roland

Word Cloud of OWG's final document

After one and a half years of deliberations, consultations, and negotiations, the UN’s Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals released its final outcome document. Above are the 150 most common words from the 4,369 long document presented as a word cloud.

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2014-08-20

Published by Justin

We now have the first set of papers on education: what is the smartest target?

The Post-2015 Consensus has just released our latest research series on Education targets for the Post-2015 agenda. George Psacharopoulos, formerly of the London School of Economics and the World Bank writes the main report, peer-reviewed in perspective papers by Paul Glewwe and Caroline Krafft of...

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2014-08-20

Published by Justin

The Trouble with Universal Education

With 60 million children still out of school, the international community should not simply postpone the same universal-education target until 2030. Lomborg calls for an achievable, targeted, and cost-effective approach in his column for the world's largest syndication published in newspapers...

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2014-08-20

Published by Justin

The Economic Case for a Better World

El Mundo, Spain's newspaper of record has published a recent article by Bjorn Lomborg. In this article Bjorn discusses what is to come after the expiration of the millennium development goals and the future global impact in which a focus on smart targets could have on the Post-2015 development...

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2014-08-18

Published by Justin

Starting the Post-2015 conversation in Germany

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany's newspaper of record has published an article written by Bjorn Lomborg. In this article Bjorn discusses why the work of the Post-2015 consensus is so important and why we need smart targets. Click here to read the entire article (in German).

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2014-08-14

Published by Justin

An African Focus on Education Findings

After the recent launch of our series on education targets in the Post-2015 agenda, African media have begun giving attention to the findings. The Daily Graphic a large news outlet in Ghana has been the first to publish a recent op-ed written by Bjorn Lomborg. In this article Bjorn discusses why...

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2014-08-08

Published by Justin

UN OWG released final Post-2015 Goals. What Goals Would You Choose?

The United Nations Open Work Group has released their finale outcome document in regard to the Post-2015 goals. The proposal contains 17 goals and 169 targets. Currently, the Post-2015 Consensus is drafting our benefit-cost assessment of the following final 17 goals and the targets. Goal 1 - End...

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2014-08-08

Published by Justin

Quick History of Development Policy and Why Post-2015 Needs to be Smarter

In the article published by the Express Tribune of the International New York Times, Dr. Pervez Tahir gives a brief history on development policy. Although, the Millennium Development Goals are seen as a great success and allowed for the UN to take the “Drivers Seat” in regard to...

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2014-08-04

Published by Justin

We Need Smart Goals

The World Economic Forum has published a recent op-ed by Bjorn Lomborg – “Is ending malnutrition unrealistic?” In this article Bjorn gives an introduction to some of the targets now being proposed by the UN and proves why the work of the Post-2015 project is so important. “...

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2014-07-31

Published by Justin

Spreading the word about the Post-2015 Consensus project

While in Washington DC to testify for two US senate committees in regard to “The Costs of Inaction: The Economic and Budgetary Consequences of Climate Change, Bjorn Lomborg took full advantage of his trip to D.C. During this trip Bjorn met with numerous individuals from development agencies, state...

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2014-07-30

Published by Justin

Bringing Together the Brightest Minds Working on the Post-2015 Agenda

July 30th, 2014 was a busy day for Bjorn Lomborg. In addition to meeting with leadership from numerous NGOs during his trip to Washington DC, Bjorn led two talks on the Post-2015 project and how benefit-cost analysis can better inform the selection of Post-2015 targets. Ultimately, assisting in the...

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2014-07-30

Published by Justin

The importance of nutrition for economic development presented at Pontifical Academy of Science

In November 2013, Dr Lomborg presented the strong economic evidence and high benefit-costs for nutrition interventions for small children to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences working group during their Bread and Brain, Education and Poverty workshop in the Vatican State. The conference was hosted...

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2014-07-28

Published by Justin

The Wall Street Journal front page on Post-2015 and Copenhagen Consensus

The Wall Street Journal’s weekend review featured a two page spread on the work of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, the Post-2015 consensus and founder Bjorn Lomborg. In the article, Matt Ridley author of “The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves” and a member of the British...

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2014-07-25

Published by Roland

Follow us on Twitter

@Post2015_CCC tweets and updates on Post-2015 Consensus

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2014-07-17

Published by Justin

Bjorn Lomborg writes in Hungary's business daily Napi Gazdaság

Napi Gazdaság, published a recent article by Bjorn Lomborg in which he discusses the SDGs and the Post-2015 Consensus project’s work to provide a cost-benefit analysis of prospective targets. Click here to read the PDF (in Hungarian).

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2014-07-09

Published by Sarah

Two-page feature in Denmark's newspaper of record

Berlingske, Denmark's paper of record, published a two page interview on Post-2015 Development targets with Center President Bjorn Lomborg. The piece is available on Berlingske's website. Click here to read (in Danish).

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2014-07-03

Published by Jeremy

Le Monde: Copenhagen Consensus report creates "buzz" at UN OWG

Le Monde , France's paper of record, published a story on the United Nation's work in setting the next round of development goals. The piece notes the "buzz" created by the Copenhagen Consensus Center's P r eliminary Benefit-Cost Assessment for 12th Session OWG Goals report...

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2014-06-23

Published by Sarah

EFE interviews Bjorn Lomborg on UN's Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals

Spanish news agency EFE, the world's largest, interviews Bjorn Lomborg during the 12th Session of the Open Working Group in New York City. He discusses the organization's Post-2015 Consensus project and the need for benefit-cost prioritization in setting the next round of targets.The...

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2014-06-23

Published by Sarah

Aftenposten, Norway's biggest newspaper, discusses the Post-2015 Consensus

Aftenposten, Norway's largest newspaper, has a new piece highlighting the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals process. Included in the piece is the Copenhagen Consensus Center's Post-2015 Consensus prioritization project. Click here to read the article in its entirety (in...

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2014-06-23

Published by Sarah

OWG 12: Continued UN Interest in Copenhagen Consensus' Benefit-Cost Analysis

Copenhagen Consensus Center President Bjorn Lomborg visited New York to attend the meetings of the 12th Session of the UN's Open Working Group on Sustainable Development. Copenhagen Consensus published an analysis of the OWG's targets as part of the Post-2015 Consensus. Lomborg presented the...

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2014-06-14

Published by Sarah

Bjorn Lomborg addresses Post-2015 Millennium Development Goals in new Project Syndicate piece

Bjorn Lomborg's new Project Syndicate op-ed about post-2015 prioritization has been published around the world including Turkey, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Uganda, South Korea, Costa Rica and the Philippines. The op-ed discusses the importance of setting smart, cost-effective goals in the UN's...

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2014-06-10

Published by Sarah

New Analysis of Draft Goals Released for the 12th Open Working Group Session

The Copenhagen Consensus has updated our benefit-cost assessment of UN's Post-2015 goals for the 12th session of the Open Working Group (OWG), to be held from June 16th to 20th, 2014. This report builds upon the first analysis conducted by Copenhagen Consensus Center on the 11th OWG document...

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2014-05-12

Published by Sarah

Successful Side-Event at OWG 11

Copenhagen Consensus, in collaboration with the UN Permanent Missions of Viet Nam, the Netherlands, and Mexico, co-hosted a successful side-event to the 11th session of the Open Working Group on May 8th, 2014. Introductory remarks were made by Mr. Le Hoai Trung, Permanent Representative of Viet Nam...

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2014-05-07

Published by Sarah

Post 2015 Consensus research featured in The New York Times

An article released today, May 6th, by Eduardo Porter for the New York Times, discusses the post-2015 agenda setting process. The article talks to the need for prioritization of goals, and features an interview with Dr. Bjorn Lomborg, as well as reference to the new benefit-cost research released...

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2014-05-05

Published by Sarah

New Analysis and Side-Event for the 11th Session of the Open Working Group

The Post 2015 Consensus has today released a new analysis of the draft goals being considered in the 11th session of the Open Working Group (OWG). These preliminary results rank all the draft goals from "phenomenal" to "poor", based on economic evidence, and will be distributed...

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2014-04-30

Published by Sarah

Our Feature in IPS: Finding the Needle in the Post-2015 Haystack

A new peice, published today by the Inter Press Service, provides a feature article about the Post 2015 Consensus project. Written by Jonathan Rozen, the article provides an excellent overview of our project and what we aim to achieve. Click here to read the article in its entirety.

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2014-04-22

Published by Sarah

NYC: High level of interest in the Post 2015 Consensus

A whirlwind week in NYC saw Dr. Bjorn Lomborg and Dr. Brad Wong in meetings with 18 missions and UN agencies at UN headquarters in NYC. The meetings aimed to spread the word on the Post 2015 Consensus project, and we received a very high level of interest from all. We were told many times during...

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2014-04-02

Published by Sarah

NYC meetings in April

To coincide with the 10th session of the Open Working Group (OWG), Dr. Bjorn Lomborg, Director of Copenhagen Consensus Center and Dr. Brad Wong, Post 2015 Consensus Project Manager, are visiting UN representatives and missions this April, to discuss progress on the Post 2015 Consensus. Among others...

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2014-02-17

Published by Sarah

Feed the Kids and Watch Nations Grow

Read our op-ed in The Australian on how effective goal setting can improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of kids in South East Asia and the Pacific.

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