Introduction 5
Here, we outline in concrete terms why the Copenhagen Consensus Center recommends investment in particular areas, and explains what can be achieved. In telling personal stories alongside the research, we want to put a human face to the challenges that these initiatives help to address. When the Copenhagen Consensus Center recently launched a series of research papers about responding to malnutrition in Nairobi, Kenya, I was inspired to meet the energetic, focused people who are striving to solve this challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. It is always eye-opening to sit down with people living in any underprivileged part of the world, and to ask them what investments or policy options they would like to see prioritized. More often than not, the problems at the forefront of their mind are not those that we hear a lot about in the media, but instead are in line with Copenhagen Consensus project findings. I find that greatly heartening. I hope that you find the Copenhagen Consensus Guide to Giving thought-provoking and helpful. Helping somebody else is a laudable act. This guide is intended to assist in providing you with peace-of-mind that your donation is helping to do an extraordinary amount of good.
Bjørn Lomborg Bjørn Lomborg, the director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, is a global opinion leader. He is the author of the Skeptical Environmentalist and Cool it. He was named one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st Century by Esquire magazine, one of the 50 people who could save the planet by the Guardian, one of the top 100 public intellectuals by Foreign Policy, and one of the world’s 100 most influential people by Time. He is the former director of Denmark’s Environmental Assessment Institute, and an adjunct professor at Copenhagen Business School.
Guide to Giving