Emission cuts ‘do not slow global warming’

Governments have put the cart before the horse by focusing on cutting greenhouse gas emissions to tackle global warming, noted climate “sceptic” Bjorn Lomborg said yesterday.

The author of The Sceptical Environmentalist said the “Kyoto protocol” approach of committing to emissions cuts, including efforts by the EU to slash greenhouse gases by 20 per cent by 2020, did not work.

Instead he called for a $100-billion-a-year fund for research and development into green energy such as solar panels, which he said would deliver many times the benefits of current policies designed to cut emissions to stop temperatures rising.

Dr Lomborg was speaking before the publication of his new book, Smart Solutions to Climate Change, which includes analysis of solutions by an “expert panel” of economists and recommends research into green energy alternatives to fossil fuels.

It also calls for research into geo-engineering solutions such as “marine cloud-whitening”, where particles are shot into the atmosphere to help reflect the sun’s heat, as a potential emergency back-stop measure for tackling climate change.