Increasing energy costs isn’t the answer

Fourth in a series: Climate change has a very small net negative effect on agricultural output, but the trend decline in malnutrition is so strong it won't be noticed

In their bids to showcase climate leadership at the UN Climate Summit in Glasgow (COP26), leaders of rich nations are once again talking of ambitious carbon reduction targets. President Biden, for example, has reaffirmed his goal of creating “a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and net zero emissions economy by no later than 2050.”

Copenhagen Consensus Center President Bjørn Lomborg says global warming will have “mostly negative impacts”, but people need to have a “sense of proportion”.

“When temperatures rise, you’re going to see more heat, and hence more heatwaves and hence more heat deaths,” he told Sky News host Andrew Bolt.

“But what you don’t hear is that when temperatures rise, you also see less cold, less cold waves, and hence fewer cold deaths.”