-Ecology: Leading economist denounces environmentalist scare-mongering

The world is not heading for ecological disaster and development can continue unchecked, according to a Danish economist specialising in environmental matters, Bjorn Lomborg, quoted by The Economist magazine.

The earth’s resources are not running low, despite what the environmentalists say, Lomborg said. In fact, they are much larger than previously believed, with enough oil to fuel current rates of consumption for another 150 years, he said.

Environmentalist fears that booming population growth would lead to hundreds of thousands of people dying of hunger are also false, Lomborg said. According to the United Nations, agricultural production in developing countries has increased by 52 per cent per person since 1961. Food intake per person per day increased from 1,932 calories in 1961 to 2,650 calories in 1998 and should hit 3,020 calories by 2030. Only 18 per cent of people in poor countries suffer from famine today, compared with 45 per cent in 1949.

Threats to biodiversity – the number of plant and animal species on earth – have also been overstated, Lomborg said. Environmentalists predicted that 20,000 to 100,000 species would disappear each year because of deforestation, which is blatantly not the case, he added.

Pollution is not as serious as previously imagined, with many studies showing that air pollution drops when societies become developed enough to care for the environment. The air in London, UK, for example, is cleaner now than it has been since 1585.

Lomborg said that scientists, environmentalists and the media deliberately hype their message to attract attention to their research and campaigns and increase public attention.

He also said that the world should choose between implementing the Kyoto treaty on climate control and saving two million lives. The Kyoto treaty could cost one thousand billion US dollars to enforce – five times more than the cost of providing water and sanitation to the whole world, which would save two million people each year, he said.