Bjorn Lomborg

The writer is President of the Copenhagen Consensus Center and Visiting Professor at Copenhagen Business School.

We need better solutions for maternal health

In the next two minutes, one woman will die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. She will die from entirely preventable causes during one of the most beautiful moments of human life, giving birth.

Prioritising e-government procurement for vision 2021 and beyond

Transparency, fair competition and accountability are three defining features of an efficient public procurement system. Until 2011,

Empowering rural courts

Increasing access to justice at the grassroot level can directly protect human rights of the rural poor. It is estimated that nearly 4 billion poor around the world cannot access the protection of the law and justice system.

Smart priorities for the new government’s first budget

Since 2015, Copenhagen Consensus and BRAC have collaborated on Bangladesh Priorities to create a bridge between policy and research. This is driven by the belief that, with limited resources and time, it is crucial that decisions are informed by what will do the most good for each taka spent.

Four crucial policy interventions to help Bangladesh grow

With input from more than 400 experts from government, international organisations, scholars, and intellectuals, the Bangladesh Priorities project helped identify 76 investments that would help achieve the nation's goals under the 7th Five Year Plan.

The moral and economic case for action to end TB

Today [Wednesday, 26 September], Heads of State will meet at the United Nations for their first-ever meeting dedicated to ending Tuberculosis as a public health threat.

The youth prioritises agriculture

Discussions about development spending and reducing Bangladesh's climate vulnerability are often dominated—understandably—by politicians and donors. These are the decision-makers who affect how funds are spent.

Making the SDGs smarter

Over the next 15 years, the Sustainable Development Goals will influence more than USD 2.5 trillion of money in development aid...

Debate on poverty eradication

The project 'Bangladesh Priorities' set out to have a conversation on what is best for Bangladesh. In that spirit, I welcome the commentary from Nick Beresford of UNDP Bangladesh on September 29. His concerns merit a considered response.

NUTRITION - Small investments can make a huge impact

Poor nutrition continues to impede Bangladesh's progress. The effects include maternal mortality, infant mortality, and stillbirths. Also, poor growth among small children results in stunting, which in turn has life-long consequences. Affecting about six million Bangladeshi children under the age of five, the condition decreases cognitive development, leads to worse health outcomes and school performance.

Can they change the country's future?

If you had Tk. 250 billion to use for Bangladesh's future, how would you choose to spend it? That would alter the spending of

Golden rice: The malnutrition fighting crop

Over the past two decades, Bangladesh has remarkably managed to feed an increasing population better - the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that in 1993...

Liberal trade policies to boost the best

With increased liberalisation, there would be costs to domestic producers and markets that become exposed to foreign competition. Some workers in these industries may even lose jobs. The most affected areas of the Bangladeshi economy would be light manufacturing, utilities and construction, livestock and meat markets, and mining and extraction.

Rejoinder

I refer to the commentary by Dr. Sebastian Groh of Saturday 28 May, responding to my article, "Bringing Electricity to More Bangladeshis".

RMG: Smartest Strategies

Bangladesh's manufacturing sector has grown steadily as the country has industrialised. Manufacturing now accounts for 30 percent of GDP, nearly double the share of agriculture.

Bringing electricity to more Bangladeshis

It turns out that switching five households from kerosene lamps to a single diesel-powered generator would be 12 times more cost-effective than solar power - each taka of spending would do an impressive 24 takas of good.

Best strategies to empower girls

In Bangladesh, an additional year of school boosts girls' lifetime earnings by an estimated 13.2 percent. When combining the health and education benefits, the small investment in family planning gives 3 takas of benefits for each taka spent.

Healthier mothers for a brighter future

Providing all pregnant Bangladeshi women with iron and folic acid would decrease the risk of anaemia in mothers by 69 percent and reduce low-weight births by nearly 3 percent. The majority of the benefits would come from avoiding lifelong productivity losses that arise from low birth weight.

How to improve Dhaka's public services for future growth

Cleaning the river and improving its facilities would make it safer for residents who live nearby, avoiding a massive Tk. 91.6 billion in healthcare costs.

The smartest ways to deal with traffic congestion in Dhaka

Dhaka is one of the fastest-growing megacities in the world. A population of just 3 million in 1971 has ballooned to 18 million today.

The smartest ways to adapt to climate

Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world when it comes to climate change.

The smartest ways to adapt to climate

Their first solution looks at mangroves. Bangladesh could protect and replant mangroves in coastal regions, which would serve as a natural buffer to cyclones while also sequestering carbon.

Digitise land records - Unlock economic opportunities

The complexity of the system and tendency for officials to delay or block the process encourages people to rely on informal title arrangements. But this informality weakens the security of property rights and undermines economic activity.

Healthcare solutions that are smart

Every hour, tuberculosis kills nine Bangladeshis. Another seven die each hour from arsenic in drinking water. Simple and cheap

The smartest ways to fight non-communicable diseases in Bangladesh

A third chronic illness that the researchers examine is cervical cancer. It is one of the most deadly cancers for women in Bangladesh—it causes about 10,000 deaths each year. Although we know how to help, it turns out to be rather costly.

How e-GP save taxpayers tens of billions each year

Each year, Bangladesh spends more than Tk. 72,000 crore on government procurement. That includes paying for anything from Padma Bridge...

Flexible microfinance models - For more economic opportunities

Why would microfinance institutions agree to use flexible repayment strategies? Simply because delivering a new product opens a new market, allowing the institutions to reach people who have irregular income flows, while maintaining their profit share.

Linking economies through transportation infrastructure

Economists estimate that over that three-decade timeframe, the [Padma] bridge will reach its full traffic capacity of 75,000 vehicles each day.

How education and stimulation in early years can help children thrive for a lifetime

Today, 99 percent of Bangladesh's girls and 97 percent of boys are enrolled in primary school.

Streamlining opportunities to migrate

With the most optimistic aspirations, each taka spent toward formalising international migration through UDCs could produce Tk. 40 worth of benefits.

Helping farmers in the lean season

In northern rural Bangladesh, the autumn lean season is the most difficult time of year, especially in Rangpur, where close to half of the 15.8 million residents live below the poverty line.

How smart solutions to tax reform can help develop infrastructure

Mobilising more resources for government could help improve many public services and goods, including the massive infrastructure needs of the country. But is mobilising more government resources the best way to help Bangladesh?

How better technology can make city air cleaner—and help save lives

DURING the dry season, Dhaka is one of the most polluted cities in the world. Air pollution levels during this period of the year reach 13-16 times higher than the international quality standard, and that outdoor air pollution kills 14,000of the city's residents annually.

Using smarter stoves to combat household air pollution

When it comes to cooking indoors over open fires, the harmful health effects can be equal to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day.

FIGHTING POVERTY

The ultra poor generally do not own land and are caught in the low-wage activities of day labourers. They are on the brink of subsistence. And when you are struggling just to maintain your level of subsistence today, you do not have the luxury of worrying too much about—or saving for—tomorrow.