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The Non-Disappearing Pacific Islands
We often hear that island states are disappearing because of climate change, and that sea level rise is already driving people away from them. But new research shows that since the middle of the 20th century, the total land area on many island states has actually grown.
Bjorn Lomborg points out in Wall Street Journal that factors such as government corruption, poverty and domestic violence are the main drivers behind emigration, not climate change.
The article was also printed in newspapers around Latin America, including Milenio (Mexico), Los Tiempos (Bolivia) and and Semana Sostenible (Colombia).
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Are there too many SDGs?
 It has been one year since the UN passed 169 targets for sustainable development until 2030. On the BBC's statistics program More Or Less, Lomborg explains why promising everything to everyone means having no priorities at all, and that it would be much better to focus on 19 cost-effective targets that can do a phenomenal amount of good for people, planet and prosperity.
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The free-trade miracle
Whether you discuss CETA, TTIP or NAFTA, the mood in rich countries today has turned against free trade. That is a tragedy, as trade has helped lift more than a billion people out of poverty over the past quarter-century.
Economic analysis by the Copenhagen Consensus Center shows that the costs of trade are vastly outweighed by the benefits, and that freer trade is the single most powerful way to help the world’s poorest citizens. Reviving the Doha Round alone could make the world $11 trillion richer, with $7 trillion going to developing countries.
Read Bjorn Lomborg's column for Project Syndicate in five languages. It was published by newspapers around the world, including New Vision (Uganda), Shanghai Daily (China), La Nacion (Costa Rica), Times of Oman, The Daily Star (Lebanon), Arab News (Saudi Arabia), Hospodarske Noviny (Czech Republic) and Vecer (Slovenia).
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Let's get our priorities straight
Rich Westerners often believe that climate change trumps all other global problems. But a UN survey of almost 10 million people around the globe shows climate change is people's lowest priority, with better education, health care and jobs topping the list.
 In an interview for the Australian radio station 6PR, Dr. Lomborg explains that it's not only morally right to listen to the world's poorest, but that there are also solid economic arguments for focusing on better food, schools and health first.
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Foster innovation - change the world
Bill Gates is spot on when he urges world leaders "to take on our biggest problems through dramatic increases in scientific research". Whether the research is on challenges like climate change, food security or infectious diseases, economic research for Copenhagen Consensus shows that policies focussing on innovation promise to have high cost-effectiveness and could ultimately transform the world. Read more in Bjorn Lomborg's latest Influencer post on LinkedIn.
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