Man-made global warming is real. The solutions being touted are not

The pledges many countries will make on greenhouse gas emissions in Copenhagen are pure fantasy, says Bjørn Lomborg. We must pursue other options

Judging by the opinion polls, those gathering at the Copenhagen climate change summit have a lot of persuading to do. Just two in five Brits think that global warming is taking place and is man-made. Only one third of Americans think that humans are responsible for climate change. The number of Australians who deem global warming a ‘serious and pressing problem’ has dropped sharply. The urgency which grips politicians around the world seems not to be shared by the general public — to the frustration of people like David Miliband, Britain’s Foreign Secretary. This, he says, demonstrates that the public ‘lack a sense of urgency’.

Yet against the backdrop of a global economic crisis, it is understandable that people everywhere have become more sceptical about policies that stand to cost them a fortune — and, crucially, help the planet very little.