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'Skeptical Environmentalist' to give Futures Forum lecture

073/2006 | 27 September 2006 

Professor Bjorn Lomborg, the controversial Danish author and thinker, will be at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on Thursday to deliver the next lecture in the Scotland's Futures Forum series.

Named one of the 100 globally most influential people by Time magazine, the self-proclaimed 'skeptical environmentalist' (the title of his best-selling 2001 book) will be talking under the heading of 'Environmental Futures'.

Professor Lomborg will outline his belief that spending money on the Kyoto Protocol is wasteful and would be better spent halting AIDS, malaria and malnutrition and providing water and sanitation instead.

Addressing Scotland's Futures Forum, which exists to stimulate debate between MSPs, academics, civic society, free thinkers, wealth creators and international organisations, Professor Lomborg will go on to argue that:

• For the developed world most of the important environmental indicators show improvement.

• Combating HIV/AIDS, malnutrition and malaria while securing free trade would do the most good for world resources, while investing heavily in handling global warming would simply be a bad investment

Welcoming Professor Lomborg to Holyrood, Scotland 's Futures Forum Board member Sarah Boyack MSP said:

"These lectures, as part of Scotland's Futures Forum programme of events, are all about stimulating debate over the big issues that Scotland will face in the next decade and beyond.

"I have no doubt that Professor Lomborg's challenging global views and perhaps controversial perspective will provoke a lively response from his audience."

Media Access Arrangements

Programme:

6.45- 6.50pm Welcome and introduction by Sarah Boyack MSP

6.50- 7.30pm Address by Bjorn Lomborg

7.30- 8.15pm Q & A with Audience, facilitated by Iain MacWhirter

Broadcasters, photographers and journalists wishing to attend the event should contact Sally Coyne at the Scottish Parliament Media Relations Office on 0131 348 6265, or by email at sally.coyne@scottish.parliament.uk

Media without Scottish Parliament media accreditation should contact the Scottish Parliament Media Relations Office to organise a day pass.

Photography

Photographs will be available by contacting Andrew Cowan in the Scottish Parliament's Media Relations Office on 0131 348 6269 or andrew.cowan@scottish.parliament.uk.

Background

Bjorn Lomborg was named one of the 100 globally most influential people by Time magazine in April 2004. He is adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School, runs the Copenhagen Consensus Center, and author of the best-selling The Skeptical Environmentalist and has featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian amongst others.

Scotland's Futures Forum

Scotland's Futures Forum exists to enable MSPs and others responsible for Scotland 's future prosperity, cohesion and welfare to look beyond the normal four year electoral policy cycle at the challenges facing the nation and seeks ways of meeting those challenges.

http://www.scotlandsfuturesforum.org/default.aspx

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/nmCentre/news/futuresforum_news.htm

For further information, the Scottish Parliament media contact is:

Sally Coyne: 0131 348 6265
RNID Typetalk calls welcome
email: sally.coyne@scottish.parliament.uk

For public information enquiries, contact: 0131 348 5000 or 0845 278 1999 (local call rate)
Text phone: 0131 348 3415 RNID Typetalk calls welcome
email: sp.info@scottish.parliament.uk

Visit our website at: www.scottish.parliament.uk