Expert urges green energy research

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

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% by 2020, did not work.

Instead he called for a 100 billion US dollar (£65.14 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 ahead of 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.

Dr Lomborg, seen in many quarters as a leading climate sceptic, denied the new book was a U-turn for him, as he had always said climate change was real and man-made.

"The problem with much of the climate discussions is they are between people who say it's not happening at all or it's the end of the world - that's why it's so confusing to many people," he said.

He said his view was in between - that climate change was real and a problem that needed fixing but was not the end of the world.

And he said there were much "smarter" ways of spending money on dealing with climate change, with Europe alone set to spend 250 billion US dollars a year (£160bn) meeting its 2020 targets which would have very little benefit in curbing temperature rises.

Dr Lomborg suggested a tax on carbon of seven US dollars per tonne (£4.50) could provide 250 billion US dollars (£160bn) a year, paying for the 100bn dollar (£65bn) fund, 1bn dollars (£650m) for geoengineering research and 50bn dollars (£32bn) for helping people adapt to climate change.