Starting in the 1990s, at the end of the Cold War, climate change became a fixation for rich-country politicians and elites. 

Governments push heavily subsidized renewables, but fossil-fuel use continues to increase even faster.

Some of the world’s big challenges get a lot of attention. Climate change, war and immigration are constantly in the news and receive large funding from states and private philanthropies.

Low-efficiency or inefficient programmes are replacing those that tackle hunger and illiteracy

We endlessly hear the flawed assertion that because climate change is real, we should “follow the science” and end fossil fuel use.

Copenhagen Consensus Centre President Bjorn Lomborg says “it’s no big surprise” that Australia will face power shortages.

The AEMO has warned of power shortages across the country.

“We’ve been told that solar and wind is cheaper than fossil fuels,” Mr Lomborg told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

“But the reality, of course, is they’re only cheaper when the wind is blowing or when the sun is shining.

“You really have to take that into account, and when you do it, of course, it turns out that it’s much much more expensive.”

After the Cold War, the West took a vacation from history. Now it’s urgent that we get back to work.

The idea that there is only one correct policy — cutting carbon emissions to zero in a short time frame — is absurd, and especially so when this sole policy is failing globally.

Bjorn Lomborg is president of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, a think tank dedicated to applying economic analysis, including cost-benefit analysis, to proposed policies around the issues of the day. He’s also a visiting professor at Copenhagen Business School and visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He's the author of many books, including the 2001 bestseller The Skeptical Environmentalist.  His latest book, and the topic for this interview, is Best Things First.

Despite us constantly being told that solar and wind are now the cheapest forms of electricity, governments around the world needed to spend $1.8 trillion on the green transition last year.