Testimonials

The Copenhagen Consensus Center is dedicated to doing the most good for the greatest number of people. We have run projects and released publications providing leaders and policy makers with sharp, economically sound information on how to get the most bang for the development buck.

Below you can find testimonials and feedback on the center. Jump down for testimonials and feedback on specific projects or visit the project site. 

Copenhagen Consensus is an outstanding, visionary idea and deserves global coverage.”

- The Economist

The Copenhagen Consensus prioritization process is the most interesting, innovative and useful approach by any think tank in recent decades."

- Michael R. Sinclair, Executive Director, The Harvard Ministerial Leadership in Health Program, Harvard School of Public Health

I hope that Copenhagen Consensus projects will draw the attention of governments around the world to the issues and the things that we think are clearly things that would improve the wellbeing of societies in countries. If we succeed at all in doing that, I would say we have done a good job.”

- Douglass  North, Nobel Laureate in Economics

From the first Copenhagen Consensus prioritization in 2004, we learned that providing micronutrients to the undernourished is a phenomenal investment. The Copenhagen Consensus research provides a vital input for enterprises striving to best support society with corporate social responsibility projects. Today, BASF's Food Fortification initiative reach more than 600 million people, adding essential nutrients to affordable foods. We invest confidently in food fortification, knowing that every Euro we spend together with our partners from United Nations, governments and civil society will return about 60 Euros economic benefit for society."

- Dr. Andreas Bluethner, Director of Food Fortification & Partnerships for BASF    

Copenhagen Consensus is a foundation of great international prestige that sponsors many investigations into how to make the best investments to help humanity, protect the environment, generate sustainable development and effective social development. It is a very beautiful organization, with some very clear goals."

- Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia

Without the benefit of the Copenhagen Consensus, Teck would not be involved with UNICEF and Micronutrient Initiative on initiatives to deliver zinc treatment to children who would otherwise be at risk of dying. Over time, the work of Teck and its partners will help saves the lives of the 400,000 who die today from complications arising from Diarrhea. The work of the Copenhagen Consensus was instrumental in sparking this effort.”

- Don Lindsay, President and CEO, Teck

As a development economist I love the idea of the Copenhagen Consensus.”  

-  Lant Pritchett Professor of the Practice of International Development at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University

When trying to help families in base of the pyramid communities, it is crucial to know where we can have the biggest impact for our efforts. Copenhagen Consensus research showed we could positively impact more lives with malaria interventions than interventions for many other diseases. That knowledge has been integral to guide our efforts in the fight against malaria."

- Tom Putzer, Base of the Pyramid Group, SC Johnson

I've served on four 'experts committees', beginning in 2004.  All involved hard choices among attractive alternatives to meet crucial objectives for development and health. And the reason I keep serving? I learn so much."

- Thomas C. Schelling, Nobel Laureate in Economics

In 2008, eight of the world’s leading economists, including five Nobel Laureates, in the so-called Copenhagen Consensus, recommended priorities for confronting the top ten global challenges. They ranked providing young children with micronutrients the number one most cost-effective way to advance global welfare.”

- Anthony Lake, Executive Director of UNICEF at the 126th Inter-Parliamentary Union

The Copenhagen Consensus brings together an impressive roster of minds. Not everyone agrees with the composition and ordering of Lomborg's priorities lists, of course -- climate change tends to rank further down the list than many stakeholders would like, for example -- but as a point of departure for discussion, the exercise of priority-setting is a sound one.”

- Tom Zeller Jr., The Huffington Post

Because the results of Copenhagen Consensus are so concrete, and because they are based on solid knowledge, the results provide a valuable insight for politicians – an insight that is in fact used by policy makers.”

- Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark, Opening of Copenhagen Consensus Conference May, 25, 2008

The genius of the Copenhagen Consensus exercise is to create a feasible, evidence based, alternative for the use of incremental resources that takes into account both the effectiveness of resources across sectors and across the globe.”  

- Lant Pritchett Professor of the Practice of International Development at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University

This year I donated to AMF, SCI, Deworm the World, Project Healthy Children, and the Copenhagen Consensus Center... These were all recommended by GWWC except the Copenhagen Consensus Center – I chose to donate to them because I think that promoting global prioritization is one of the most important activities to be doing, and, though harder to be sure about, their influence is potentially measured in the hundreds of millions or billions of dollars.”

- Will McAskill, Effective Altruism

Ranking specific interventions based on their cost-effectiveness forced researchers to get away from generalities and vague policy recommendations."  

-  Anil Deolalikar, Founding dean of UC Riverside's School of Public Policy and professor of economics, and Copenhagen Consensus researcher

I certainly don't agree with Bjorn (or the Copenhagen Consensus) on everything, but I always find him worth listening to. He's not an idealogue. He's a data driven guy who cares about using scarce resources in the smartest possible way."

- Bill Gates on Gates Notes Blog, June 2014

In his speech to the Grattan Institute on 19 August 2013, the then-Shadow Minister and now incumbent Minister of the Environment of Australia Greg Hunt cited Copenhagen Consensus findings to support his stance on the Australian Carbon Tax:

Four years ago, the Danish Director of the Copenhagen Consensus Centre, Bjorn Lomborg, gathered together a panel of Nobel Economic Laureates and tasked them with the job of identifying the most and least cost-effective actions to address climate change...Let me just summarise. A considered panel of the world’s most eminent pure market economists concluded that of 15 different systems for cutting emissions, the three worst, the three least effective, the three most costly per tonne of abatement were variations of the carbon tax or ETS. By comparison, their top solutions were all about smarter technology. ”  

Bangladesh Priorities 

Making choices is not an easy task. But if we want to get the best possible impact for our limited resources, it is essential to prioritize our options. The cooperation with Copenhagen Consensus Center has been a highly informative and valuable experience, and the results of Bangladesh Priorities will help BRAC specifically and the country in general set our future priorities."

- Dr. Muhammad Musa, Executive Director of BRAC

This collaboration between BRAC and Copenhagen Consensus Center has brought some of the foremost economists from Bangladesh together with their global counterparts, to focus on positive, smart ways to improve this country. Despite limitations, it has identified new interventions with high potential benefits and confirmed the potential of some of the current priorities. This will be a valuable resource for policy-makers and anybody interested in Bangladesh's future."

- Dr. Mushtaque Chowdhury, Vice-Chairperson of BRAC

This project is going to transform the way we think about priorities in Bangladesh, both with the implementation of the 7th Five Year Plan and in attaining the Vision 2021”

- Abul Kalam Azad, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister

Policy-makers prioritize between competing options many times every single day. This project will help us to take a step back and ask, where are the areas where we should focus more attention and resources?"

- Tofail Ahmed, Minister of Commerce

Across all of the government, from the Prime Minister’s office to those responsible for education or agriculture or poverty alleviation, we see great potential in this approach to help Bangladesh focus on areas where our spending will achieve the most."

- Anir Chowdhury, Policy Advisor, Prime Minister's Office

The only question is why we have never done this before. It’s an unprecedented approach which I have not seen from any of the think-tanks or advisory groups that work in Bangladesh, and the results are going to be powerful and practical."

- Nojibur Rahman, National Board of Revenue Chairman and Senior Secretary, Internal Resources Division, Ministry of Finance

Land administration reform has been a longstanding priority. It will be useful for the research to examine different components of land administration system.”

- Abul Kalam Azad, Principal Secretary, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister

A cost-benefit analysis of the various interventions under Digital Bangladesh, will be useful in adding credibility to the government's agendas for good governance and more inclusive development.”

- Anir Chowdhury, Policy Advisor, Prime Minister's Office (PMO)

This effort will inevitably help to channel more money into the right areas. This will enable the country to get the most out of its public investments.”

- Ashikur Rahman, Senior Economist, Policy Research Institute (PRI)

There should be a second round of Bangladesh Priorities to cover some missing agendas, and complementing it within the SDGs context."

- Bazlul H. Khondker, Chairman of the South Asian Network on Economic Modelling (SANEM)

There is no magic bullet or one-size-fits-all solution to help Bangladesh hone on its new found self-confidence. The top ideas are diverse, showcasing the need to implement mixed interventions for sustaining export-led economic growth and boosting domestic demand.”

– Faisal Ahmed, Sr. Special Economic Advisor to the Governor, Bangladesh Bank

This should be a great help for us! We are always thinking about prioritizing what BRAC should do.”

- Fazle Abed, Founder and Chairperson of BRAC

There are many well-intentioned policy interventions. But some are more immediate and perhaps important than others. The Copenhagen Consensus project for Bangladesh can help inform a discussion on identifying the best options for the country’s future.”

– Mushtaque Choudhury, Executive Director of BRAC

A majority of the interventions are high-flyers as far as Bangladesh’s immediate priorities are concerned under the 7th Five Year Plan (7FYP) purview.”

- Muslim Chowdhury, Additional Secretary, Finance Division, Ministry of Finance 

Political rhetoric helps to add momentum to various agendas of reforms but such research can inject impetus to specific areas which can snowball into a big, positive effect."

- Naimuzzaman Mukta, People's Perspective Specialist, Prime Minister's Office (PMO)

The cost-benefit approach of the research, using evidence for prioritizing different policies, is unprecedented in the Bangladesh landscape, in spite of hundreds of think-tanks.”

- Nojibur Rahman, National Board of Revenue Chairman and Senior Secretary, Internal Resources Division, Ministry of Finance

The list of top ideas is accurate in terms of depicting the most important development priorities. The fact that the topics do not include too many governance interventions, given its broad scope and nature, is a good thing.”

– Rounaq Jahan, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)

More focus could have been given to studying the costs and benefit of strengthening the capacity of health service providers, in operating modern equipment. This is important for ensuring better primary healthcare by the Upazila health complexes and health officers working in rural and peri-urban areas.”

- Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Chairman of Standing Committee on Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Using evidence based analysis for policy decisions is a better investment than reading 100s of recommendation with little heed to sequencing pro-poor development priorities.”

- Tofail Ahmed, Minister, Ministry of Commerce

Not all policies are equal. Despite good intentions, some policies will do much more good for every taka spent – and those are the areas we should focus on. Bangladesh Priorities is making a real difference to Bangladeshi policy... It is clear that the research is having a real impact on guiding decisions on Bangladeshi priorities and promises to help even more into the future."

- Editorial, Prothom Alo, September 27 2016

Post-2015 Consensus

It is vital that the billions of dollars that governments provide for international development are used to greatest effect to improve living standards in developing countries. I welcome the initiative of the Copenhagen Consensus Center in undertaking a project to identify the most effective development goals for 2015 and beyond. This important research is aimed at providing policy makers with additional tools to improve the management of foreign aid globally."

- Ms. Julie Bishop MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australian Government 

We welcome this contribution form the Copenhagen Consensus Center and remain confident that it, along with all ideas and similar initiatives from civil society stakeholders, will enrich the deliberations."

- Amina Mohammed, Special Advisor on Post-2015 Development Planning to the Secretary General of the United Nations

Effective investments for today’s children are fundamental for a better and more equitable world in future. The Copenhagen Consensus Centre brings a simple but compelling logic to this endeavor: if we want to make sure that this world is realized for our children, let’s focus on the investments that will generate the most good.” 

- Richard Morgan, Senior Advisor on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, UNICEF

There are a lot of pressing problems in the world, and a lot of aspirations to fix them. But resources are scarce and we must prioritise our goals if we want to use our resources as well as possible. I therefore wholeheartedly commend the initiative to assess the costs and benefits of the Post-2015 goals. If done well — and I fully expect that it will be —  the value of this project may be measured in the hundreds of millions or billions of dollars. I cannot think of work that is more important, and I cannot wait to see the results."

- Will MacAskill, Founder and President of 80,000 Hours, Co-founder and Vice-President of Giving What We Can, and Research Associate at the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, Oxford University

A Scorecard for Humanity

The Copenhagen Consensus process has been incredibly helpful in bringing attention to the efficiency of nutritional interventions for development. Their process gives tailwind to good ideas and helps to make our global priorities smarter.“

-  Prof. Joachim von Braun Director, Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn Professor for Economic and Technological Change

The Copenhagen Consensus has proven a game changer for the nutrition field. The Nobel Prize panel’s endorsement of nutrition interventions as the most effective investments has moved the nutrition community to the center of development policy. By highlighting the significant benefits of nutrition, the Copenhagen Consensus has helped unleash billions of aid dollars to do amazing work in the world.“

- Dr. Klaus Kraemer, Director Sight and Life

For a volume covering such a large number of grim subjects, ranging from climate change and violent conflict to loss of biodiversity and malnutrition, this is a surprisingly uplifting read. While mankind has succeeded in creating some depressingly disastrous social, natural and humanitarian disaster, we also have the power to alleviate and overcome these self-inflicted challenges. Bjorn Lomborg reminds us that for every part of mankind that can destroy, there is also one part that can create."

- Professor Tilman Bruck, Director, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)

This 150-year view of humanity's biggest challenges, measured in economic terms, gives unique data on the globe's important issues to students, teachers and the general public. Ultimately, it affords everyone the opportunity to answer with facts the questions of humanity's scorecard: are we doing better or worse? Overall, there is more good news than bad, but we could still do better."

- Per Pinstrup-Andersen, former director general of IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute) and currently H.E. Babcock Professor of Food, Nutrition and Public Policy and J. Thomas Clark Professor of Entrepreneurship at Cornell University

This book is a bracing tonic. An excellent survey for students, teachers, and the general public with a wealth of thought-provoking material. If you want to know how the world is doing, and get hard, comparable numbers to back it up, this is where to go."

- Alix Peterson Zwane, Executive Director, Evidence Action and the Deworm the World Initiative; Former Senior Program Officer on the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene team, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Copenhagen Consensus III

The Copenhagen Consensus 2012 is a valuable contribution to the development debate, particularly given its focus on getting the best value for money and greatest impact from aid DFID’s program priorities are closely aligned with the recommendations from the Copenhagen Consensus. I find the analysis compelling, and I have been working with the Consensus since 2004.  

- Stephen O'Brien, UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development

This is a stimulating intellectual game with important real-world consequences. Lomborg asks all of us to stop talking grandly and vaguely about solving global problems and instead to rank them - based not only on the potential harm they can cause but also on our ability to turn things around. To govern is to choose and this pithy book forces us to choose.”

- Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek columnist and author of The Future of Freedom

The world's staggering problems won't be solved by singing pop songs, denouncing villains, or adopting the proper moral tone, but by figuring out which policies have the best chance of doing the most good. If the world is going to become a better place, it will be because of the kinds of thinking on display in this courageous and fascinating book.”

- Steven Pinker, Professor, Harvard University, and author of How the Mind Works and The Blank Slate

This book helps you make up your own mind, prioritize, and make your own choice. Just in time.”

-  Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi, and author of Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands

Bjorn Lomborg and his economist colleagues have produced a fascinating and unexpected consensus, which can start a debate about global priorities: Should we prioritize a costly and uncertain attempt to reduce effects of global warming in a hundred years’ time while millions are dying for lack of mosquito nets or condoms?”

- Matt Ridley, author of Nature via Nurture

This small volume reflects an admirable undertaking, gracefully explained for those interested in guarding the future“  

- Publishers Weekly

Lomborg's Copenhagen Consensus Center has posed a challenging question: If we had an additional $50 billion to spend on mitigating global problems, how should we spend it? To suggest answers, the center convened a panel of eight distinguished economists to evaluate proposals by over two dozen specialists on problems ranging from AIDS and malnutrition to water shortage, civil war, climate change, and migration, among others. Their collective recommendation: focus on AIDS prevention, the provision of micronutrients to poor children, trade liberalization, and the control of malaria. Their choices were determined by the expected payoff, largely but not wholly in economic terms, that each of these programs could generate relative to its cost. Some issues, such as civil war, could not be evaluated in general terms and so were not ranked. The motivating principle of the exercise was that resources are limited, political leaders must make choices, and those choices should be governed by where the most good can be done for humanity -- especially for those who are so poor that they cannot look beyond where their next meal is coming from."

- Foreign Affairs

Great book title and a thought-provoking exercise, whether or not one agrees with the worldview and methods of economists.“  

- Future Survey

Rethink HIV

Globally, AIDS needs to remain high on the global political agenda, even among a proliferating array of challenges and issues—and against the backdrop of the economic crisis and AIDS ‘fatigue.’ The response to AIDS needs to adapt to the changing environment. Funding demands will grow, but we can lower the long-term cost trajectory if wise policy choices are made today with attention paid to costs and benefits. In highlighting effective responses, and shine a spotlight on prioritization and evidence-based decision-making, RethinkHIV adds to the body of information that can help to ensure smarter, sustainable decisions are made in the ongoing fight against HIV."

–  Professor Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; founding Executive Director of UNAIDS

Setting priorities for how money could be spent most effectively to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa is a key priority. This pioneering work shows how economic analysis can contribute to a prioritisation for spending in this vital area. It will be invaluable to those funding both research activities and healthcare programmes in Africa."

– Professor Sir John Bell, President, Academy of Medical Sciences and Regius Professor of Medicine, Oxford University

Copenhagen Consensus on Climate

Clean energy is essential to our addressing the carbon climate problem. This research shows clearly that we must prime the pump on innovation now with increased funding for research and development, while putting incentives in place that allow the resulting new technologies to compete successfully in the marketplace."

- Bill Gates

This book of research challenges readers to consider the costs and benefits of different responses to global warming. It introduces an important - and seldom heard - economic perspective to this policy discussion. The wealth of data and provocative arguments presented here make 'Smart Solutions to Climate Change' a valuable resource for policy-makers, NGOs, academics, students, and everybody who is interested in learning more about the economic realities that face us as we confront this challenge."

- Douglass C. North, Washington University in St Louis, Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences

This book provides not only a reservoir of information on the reality of human induced climate change, but raises vital questions and examines viable options on what can be done to meet the challenge. In the introduction itself Bjorn Lomborg catalogues the impacts of climate change, highlighting the problem of sea level rise, pressure on water resources, and declining food production in some countries, ' possibly becoming a source of societal conflict'. It allows different authors to articulate their views on a range of solutions, and then leaves the book's readers to form their own conclusions on what might be the best set of actions to adopt. Even though its pages present a diversity of options, at the end the average reader would stand better informed, and would have formed his or her own compelling logic on the answer to this planet's problem of climate change. I would recommend this book as much for the fact that Lomborg supports the view that we have 'long moved on from any mainstream disagreements abot the science of climate change', as for the rich diversity of analysis it presents on a range of possible solutions."

- Rajenda K. Pachauri, Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

In an environmental field where positions are too often frozen in orthodoxy-on the left and on the right-Bjorn Lomborg provides a much needed fresh perspective, grounded in a realism that still avoids pessimism. His work with the Copenhagen Climate Consensus is a vital, solution-oriented contribution to the economics of global warming-and the many other problems facing a growing planet."

- Bryan Walsh, Time

The bad news is that the world seems poised to spend vast sums on ineffective global warming policies. The good news is that Bjorn Lomborg and the Copenhagen Consensus Center bring together the best advice from leading experts on smart ways to address climate change. The public and policymakers should take heed."

- Ronald Bailey, Science Correspondent, Reason Magazine

A constructive book that focuses seriously on finding effective ways to combat global warming, and the differences of opinions it expresses are stimulating and enlightening [...] Smart Solutions marks symbolically the end of one stage of thinking about climate change and the beginning of another."

- Nature

Copenhagen Consensus II

The selection of zinc and vitamin A by the Copenhagen Consensus in 2008 as the top global issue was one of the main drivers that lead to our organization launching the Zinc Saves Kids initiative in partnership with UNICEF in 2009.  We have put $3 million into this initiative to help save children dying from zinc deficiency-related issues and are now expanding this effort through our work with the United Nations Foundation, Gates Foundation and others."

- Stephen R. Wilkinson, Executive Director International Zinc Association

In 2008, eight of the world’s leading economists, including five Nobel Laureates, in the so-called Copenhagen Consensus, recommended priorities for confronting the top ten global challenges. They ranked providing young children with micronutrients the number one most cost-effective way to advance global welfare."

- Anthony Lake, Executive Director of UNICEF at the 126th Inter-Parliamentary Union

A hugely sensible book about global health and environmental problems, based on the “Copenhagen Consensus” project documented in The Economist. Its authors, eminent economists, recognise that the resources to tackle such problems are finite and need to be applied where they are most likely to be effective. Better, for instance, to spend resources on the immediate problem of AIDS in Africa than the more distant one of global warming. This book is a healthy antidote to the narrow views of single-issue pressure groups."

– The Economist, Books of the Year 2003

... an instructive guide ... a remarkable book which provides essential data for any informed discussion of vital world problems ... so often dominated by ill-informed debate. This book should prove necessary reading for all policy makers and philanthropists concerned with seriously tackling the world's challenges."

- Nicholas Newman, www.oxfordprospect.co.uk

Global Crises, Global Solutions is, therefore, worthwhile in that it offers an economic perspective on important problems in global policy."

- Lancet

...contains some of the best and most relevant policy research that social scientists have produced during the past few years."

- Journal of Peace Research

In the end, Global Crises, Global Solutions reports a brave and well-organised venture aimed at challenging our thinking about what matters most in the world."

- Times Higher Education Supplement

Copenhagen Consensus for Latin America

The Copenhagen Consensus produces practical ideas that leaders can implement, and help us to identify and promote cost-efficient initiatives. Most importantly, however, it will serve to emphasize the importance of collective action."

- Oscar Arias, President of Costa Rica and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize

The Copenhagen Consensus’s 2007 'top five ‘ranking of biofortification has aided our work tremendously. Nobel Laureates and some of the world’s top economists affirming biofortification’s cost effectiveness in reducing vitamin and mineral deficiencies  has brought greater visibility to our efforts to improve nutrition. While it is difficult to quantify this impact, our annual funding has doubled since 2007. Biofortification is now prominent in national and international discussions about ways to better link agriculture and nutrition.  All this is helping us reach our goal of getting healthier staple foods to 50 million people by 2018."

- Howarth E. Bouis, Director of HarvestPlus