When the Only Problem Was Climate Change

The global economy must be transformed immediately to avoid catastrophic climate damage, a new United Nations report declares. Climate economist William Nordhaus has been made a Nobel laureate. The events are being reported as two parts of the same story, but they reveal the contradictions inherent in climate policy—and why economics matters more than ever.

WALL STREET JOURNAL By BJORN LOMBORG

Climate Change and Malaria in Africa Limiting carbon emissions won't do much to stop disease in Zambia.

Countries like Germany make a show of their virtue and insist that Africa remain impoverished.

Rich Western nations and their development banks love to parade their climate virtue and wag their fingers at Africa. They insist that the continent leapfrog from no energy to trendy renewables like solar and wind, even as wealthy nations run mostly on fossil fuels. With the biggest voting share in the World Bank, the U.S. has effective veto power over major decisions at the globe’s largest multilateral organization—and the moral duty to put its foot down.