Editing Copenhagen Consensus (section)

{{Short description|Welfare economics project}}
{{about|a project by economists|the UN climate change document|Copenhagen Accord|the scientific consensus on climate change|scientific consensus on climate change}}
{{Primary sources|date=January 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
'''Copenhagen Consensus''' is a project that seeks to establish priorities for advancing global welfare using methodologies based on the theory of [[welfare economics]], using [[cost–benefit analysis]]. It was conceived and organized around 2004 by [[Bjørn Lomborg]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Our story {{!}} Copenhagen Consensus Center|url=https://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/our-story|access-date=2021-01-02|website=www.copenhagenconsensus.com}}</ref> the author of ''[[The Skeptical Environmentalist]]'' and the then director of the Danish government's [[Environmental Assessment Institute]].

The project is run by the [[Copenhagen Consensus Center]],<ref>http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com Copenhagen Consensus Center – CCC Home Page</ref> which is directed by Lomborg and was part of the [[Copenhagen Business School]], but it is now an independent [[501(c) organization|501(c)(3) non-profit organisation]] registered in the USA. The project considers possible solutions to a wide range of problems, presented by experts in each field. These are evaluated and ranked by a panel of economists. The emphasis is on rational prioritization by economic analysis. The panel is given an arbitrary budget constraint and instructed to use cost–benefit analysis to focus on a bottom line approach in solving/ranking presented problems. The approach is justified as a corrective to standard practice in [[international development]], where, it is alleged, media attention and the "court of public opinion" results in priorities that are often far from optimal.