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Bjørn Storm Lomborg replies to Critics at the Canberra Press Club ON BEING SELECTIVE WITH about the environment, they might STATISTICS actually have a point. We should This is obviously always an issue. certainly listen to them. But they It's certainly one of the more sub- also have an interest, and we should stantial criticisms that I've had. But remember that. Likewise, when the problem is that people don't ac- Greenpeace go out and say, we're tually say where I'm selective. Sta- all gonna die and we need to act tistics is about throwing away a lot now, they might be right too, and of numbers in order to get a few we should certainly listen to them. numbers that will tell us an impor- But they also certainly have an in- tant trend. So, when I show you an terest. average, on say food consumption The problem is that while few in the developing world, you don't people trust business organizations, see Burundi there with less, or Ni- most people actually believe Green- geria there with more. The problem peace over and above independent is, if you start trying to say every- scientists, university scientists and thing you lose oversight. So you things are better in the developing public organizations. That, I think, really have to bring together the world? Would you go back to a de- is problematic. most important data. That is what I veloping world country and say, a try to teach my students and what hundred years ago you were worse I've tried to do in my book. My crit- off?’ My answer was yes. But much more. She was shaking her head ics really have to come up with bet- ter than just saying I'm selective. while I pointed out that many chil- dren died within the first five years. ON DEMOCRACY AND FALSE They lived to only 20, 25 years on average, and virtually starved. To- IDEAS It is very, very good democracy day they have literacy and they have food. Things are moving in the for politicians to follow what peo- ple want. So the whole debate right direction. All the people who should engage the entire population. resort to name calling are betraying But we are dealing with a lot of themselves. If they had good argu- Bjørn Storm 1 people who believe that things are ments they would come out with going bad. And if that is wrong, them. Environment Unit 2 there is a really terrible personal There's a famous quote from the price to pay for it. So I think it is Harvard Law School that says if H V McKay Dinner 3 important to get a public debate on you have a good case, pound the the extent that things are going case, if you have a bad case, pound NGO Project 4 wrong and the extent that things are the table. getting better. For this, we need to Latest on Web 5 get the data out and continuously BAD FAITH AND GETTING IT confront people who say things are WRONG Forthcoming publications 5 getting worse. I think it's incredibly important to I was at the University of Queen- say that people don’t act in bad IPA Events 6 sland yesterday and a girl asked me, faith. When business organizations ‘how can you possibly say that go out and say, don't worry so much Stop Press 7 The IPA Environment Unit dollar budget for an awareness rais- support the claims of deteriorating ing campaign that includes vilifying water quality. The Murray Darling your industry. Basin Commission concurred, stat- ‘In the case of the WWF Save the ing that average salinity had Reef Campaign, science was con- dropped over the last 10 years. tinually invoked to give authority to The IPA Environment Unit has the campaign all the while effec- focused on The Save the Murray tively creating a false impression of Campaign, as it will potentially im- environmental harm. ‘I see many pact on a region that generates similarities between the Save the about 25 per cent of Australia’s ag- Reef and Save the Murray River ricultural production, and remove Campaigns’ said Jennifer. ‘Not about the same amount of water as only do both campaigns involve the has been provided to the River sys- World Wide Fund for Nature and tem by the Snowy Scheme – the CSIRO, but they both falsely claim equivalent of three Sydney har- deteriorating water quality’. bour’s full of water worth over $1.5 Flagging the direction for the En- billion dollars. Jennifer’s concern Dr Jennifer Marohasy vironment Unit, Jennifer’s first pa- is not that $1.5 billion is spent on per with the IPA, Received Evi- the environment – but that if $1.5 dence for Deteriorating Water billion is spent, it should be on Dr Jennifer Marohasy joined the Quality in the River Murray, ex- something that does a lot of envi- IPA on 1 July 2003 as Director of posed the extent of the misinforma- ronmental good. the newly formed Environment tion that has been peddled by the In response to her paper, the Unit. She is a classically trained CSIRO Division of Land and Wa- CSIRO website substituted the text biologist who got her ‘hands dirty’ ter. Jennifer investigated the extent claiming rising salinity levels with spending a total of seven years in of the problem of rising salt levels the bland, ‘Land and water resource Africa in search of biological con- and found that the evidence did not managers in Australia are under in- trol agents for some of Queen- creasing pressure to meet stringent sland’s worst rangeland weed spe- environmental guidelines, and the cies, and later as Environment Man- health of rivers and estuaries is a ager for Queensland Cane Growers. Recent articles from key factor in the sustainable man- During the 1990s, Jennifer pub- the agement of Australia’s natural re- lished 12 papers in international and Environment Unit sources.’ Australian scientific journals and 2 The Environment Unit has much book chapters. work to do. Jennifer observes, Taking up the position of Envi- Received Evidence for De- ‘Why are resource managers under ronment Manager with the $2 bil- terioration in Water Quality increasing pressure? Who deter- lion Queensland sugar industry in in the River Murray mines the appropriateness of envi- 1997 was a big change. Jennifer ronmental guidelines? Shouldn’t we oversaw the development of an in- by Jennifer Marohasy be able to trust what we read on the dustry-wide best management pro- CSIRO website? At stake is our ca- gramme, endorsement of the first Property Rights and the pacity as a nation to make sensible commodity-specific code of prac- Great Barrier Reef decisions on environmental issues.’ tice under the Environment Protec- The Unit will continue its work in tion Act 1994 (Queensland), devel- by Jennifer Marohasy challenging the environment doom- opment of submissions to govern- sayers. An article has just been pub- ment enquiries and assisted region- The Green Movement: Time lished in the December edition of ally-based officers develop plans to Get Serious the IPA REVIEW analysing the dis- and strategies, particularly in the By Mike Nahan tortions in the Australian Bureau of areas of environmental management Statistic’s 2002 state of Australia’s and pest management. environment report, Measuring When the World Wide Fund for IPA's Submission to the Australia’s Progress. Nature (WWF) launched its Save Productivity Commission's Jennifer has also just published an the Reef Campaign on World Envi- Inquiry into Impacts of Na- IPA Backgrounder, Myth & the ronment Day in June 2001, Jennifer Murray: Measuring the Real State experienced first hand what it was tive Vegetation and Biodi- of the River Environment. like to be at the wrong end of the versity Regulations stick when a global environmental by Jim Hoggett organization with a multi-million 2 TOUCH DECEMBER 2003 H V McKay Lecture and Dinner The Australian Club, Tuesday 30 September Bjørn on Priorities ‘Typically we make very, very bad investments in the environment when our primary policy focus is to save human lives. We must state what it is Bjørn Lomborg with Hugh Morgan, AC Alan Wood gives a vote of thanks that's actually important, where it is that we should place our efforts, and make sure that we don't just do something that sounds good, that makes us feel good, but that actually has little effect in doing good in this world.’ David Young, Ian Hore-Lacey, Alistair Urquhart, Michael Foley and Bjørn Lomborg Mary Urquhart at the Melbourne dinner Kris Stooke, John Simpson, Cathy Simpson, and Mike Stooke Rita Bentley and Kersten Gentle TOUCH DECEMBER 2003 3 The Non Government Organization Project stitute in June. The conference, liberal attitude to the nature of ‘We're Not from the Government, charity work is best balanced by a but We're Here to Help You. Non- disclosure by charities to donors of governmental Organizations: The two key concepts, the efficiency of Growing Power of an Unelected the charity and the nature of the Few’ opened up a series of fronts work undertaken in the name of to challenge the political activism the charity. Disclosure to donors, of NGOs. Papers are available at not limits to non-partisan advo- www.aei.org, edited papers will be cacy, is the answer to the scrutiny published next year by the AEI. required for the public support of The AEI also has an NGOWatch charity work. website which is worth viewing, In 2004 there will be two new as is the Capital Research Center Backgrounders, Informed Giving, site, www.capitalresearch.org, and and NGO Capture.

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