Two years ago, a Danish environmentalist called Bjorn Lomborg had an idea. We all want to makethe world a better place but, given finite resources, we should look for the most cost-effective ways ofdoing so. He persuaded a bunch of economists, including three Nobel laureates, to draw up a list ofpriorities. They found that efforts to fight malnutrition and disease would save many lives at modestexpense, whereas fighting global warming would cost a colossal amount and yield distant and uncertainrewards.

　　That conclusion upset a lot of environmentalists. This week, another man who upsets a lot of peopleembraced it. John Bolton, America’s ambassador to the United Nations, said that Mr Lomborg’ sCopenhagen Consensus provided a useful way for the world body to get its priorities straight. Too oftenat the UN, said Mr Bolton, everything is a priority. The secretary-general is charged with carrying out9,000 mandates, he said, and when you have 9,000 priorities you have none.

　　So, over the weekend, Mr Bolton sat down with UN diplomats from seven other countries to rank40 ways of tackling ten global crises. The problems addressed were climate change, communicablediseases, war, education, financial instability, governance, malnutrition, migration, clean water andtrade barriers.

　　Given a notional $ 50 billion, how would the ambassadors spend it to make the world a better place?Their conclusions were strikingly similar to the Copenhagen Consensus. After hearing presentations fromexperts on each problem, they drew up a list of priorities. The top four were basic health care, betterwater and sanitation, more schools and better nutrition for children. Averting climate change came last.

　　The ambassadors thought it wiser to spend money on things they knew would work. Promotingbreast-feeding, for example, costs very little and is proven to save lives. It also helps infants grow upstronger and more intelligent, which means they wilt earn more as adults. Vitamin A supplements cost aslittle as $1, save lives and stop people from going blind. And so on.

　　For climate change, the trouble is that though few dispute that it is occurring, no one knows howsevere it will be or what damage it will cause. And the proposed solutions are staggeringly expensive.

　　Mr Lomborg reckons that the benefits of implementing the Kyoto protocol would probably outweigh thecosts, but not until 2100. This calculation will not please A1 Gore. Nipped at the post by George Bushin 2000, Mr Gore calls global warming an onrushing catastrophe and argues vigorously that curbing itis the most urgent moral challenge facing mankind.

　　Mr Lomborg demurs. We need to realise that there are many inconvenient truths, he says. Butwhether he and Mr Bolton can persuade the UN of this remains to be seen. [460 words]

　　1. According to some economists, fighting global warming

　　A. is of little help to make the world a better place

　　B. is as favorable as fighting malnutrition and disease

　　C. is not the first priority for us to make the world better

　　D. is one of the priorities for us to make the world better

　　2. By saying everything is a priority, John Bolton means that

　　A. it is reasonable to think of fighting global warming as a priority

　　B. if you thought that way, there would be no priority at all

　　C. it is a useful way for the UN to get its priorities straight

　　D. every mandate to be carried out is actually a priority

　　3. According to some UN diplomats,

　　A. fighting global warming is worth spending a huge amount of money on

　　B. promoting breast-feeding is more urgent than fighting global warming

　　C. averting climate change should be excluded from the list of priorities

　　D. there are at least 40 effective ways to tackle the top ten global crises

　　4. Accordint to the text, Mr Lomborg

　　A. doubts whether climate change is occurring

　　B. proposes an ideal solution for climate change

　　C. knows clearly how severe the future climate change will be

　　D. questions the immediate benefits of averting climate change

　　5. It seems that the UN

　　A. still takes averting climate change as a priority

　　B. fails to realize many inconvenient truths in the world

　　C. has its crucial policies challenged by many member countries

　　D. is trying to tackle all the global crises to make the world better

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