En este Día de la Tierra, las dramáticas advertencias sobre el cambio climático serán omnipresentes. En su cumbre sobre el clima, el presidente estadounidense Joe Biden repetirá sin duda que el calentamiento global representa una “amenaza existencial”.

openhagen Consensus President Bjorn Lomborg provides insight into President Biden’s expected climate plan.

À medida que aumentam os custos da política climática, os países ricos pressionam os mais pobres a pagar essa conta por meio de tarifas de carbono. O Reino Unido tem esse objetivo como prioridade de sua presidência do G7, e a União Europeia avança com seus planos de uma taxa de carbono própria. Já os países em desenvolvimento estão irritados com a ideia.

Når de rige lande lover at tackle fremtidens klimaændringer, kan det ende med at se sort ud for udviklingslandene. Den nuværende Parisaftale kommer eksempelvis til at tvinge flere mennesker ind i fattigdom inden 2030, end ellers ville have været tilfældet.

To tackle climate change, rich nations are promising to end fossil fuel use in 29 years. As this becomes excruciatingly costly, the G7 is now thinking about making the world’s poor pay for it. That’ll go badly.

Para hacer frente al cambio climático, los países ricos siguen prometiendo que dejarán de utilizar combustibles fósiles en 29 años. Pero a medida que esto se vuelve insoportablemente costoso, el G7 está pensando en hacer que los pobres del mundo lo paguen. Y va a salir mal. 

Att lägga tusentals miljarder på enorma, hastigt genomförda utsläppsminskningar är en ohållbar, ineffektiv och västvärldscentrerad lösning. Vi borde istället göra de gröna alternativen billigare än de fossila, skriver Bjørn Lomborg.

Across the world, politicians are going out of their way to promise fantastically expensive climate policies. US President Joe Biden has promised to spend US$500 billion each year on climate policies－about 13 percent of the entire federal revenue. And the European Union has vowed to spend 25 percent of its budget to combat climate change.

The Biden Administration wants to spend the equivalent of $1,500 per American per year on climate policies such as electric cars. At the same time, more than half of US citizens are unwilling to pay even $24 per year.

Bjorn Lomborg argues in an interview with Fox News that this is unsustainable. Instead, we need a cheaper and more effective climate approach, focusing on ramping up green R&D. If we can innovate the price of green energy below fossil fuels, countries such as India and China could also afford to lower their emissions.

Across the world, politicians are now promising climate policies costing tens of trillions of dollars – money we don’t have and resources that are desperately needed elsewhere.

Yet, climate campaigners tell us, if we don’t spend everything on climate now, nothing else matters, because climate change threatens our very civilization. As President Biden says: climate change is "an existential threat".