--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Global temperature and GDP are both…" description: "\"“Global temperature and GDP are both rising, and each affects the other… We have to find the right balance between the two factors. If we focus solely ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81c/bjorn-lomborg-8937_carbon-dioxide_global-temperature-and-gdp-are-both-risi_386851.jpg" --- # Global temperature and GDP are both rising, and each… ![“Global temperature and GDP are both rising, and each affects the other… We have to find the right balance between the two factors. If we focus solely on growing global GDP, we risk temperatures rising to such an extent that the negative impact on our well-being will more than offset the benefits…” quote by Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81c/bjorn-lomborg-8937_carbon-dioxide_global-temperature-and-gdp-are-both-risi_386851.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81c/bjorn-lomborg-8937_carbon-dioxide_global-temperature-and-gdp-are-both-risi_386851.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81c/bjorn-lomborg-8937_carbon-dioxide_global-temperature-and-gdp-are-both-risi_386851.jpg) > ““Global temperature and GDP are both rising, and each affects the other… We have to find the right balance between the two factors. If we focus solely on growing global GDP, we risk temperatures rising to such an extent that the negative impact on our well-being will more than offset the benefits brought about by extra growth. Yet, if we try to cut as much carbon dioxide as we can, out of a sense of panic, we could easily end up reducing human well-being to a degree that far offsets any environmental benefits we achieve.” -p. 46”” [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Balancing economic growth with climate action is essential; over‑prioritizing one harms the other and reduces overall well‑being. **In simple terms:** Growth and climate must be balanced for true progress. Key Takeaway Seek policies that grow economies while cutting emissions. Themes economics environment policy well‑being trade‑offs Mood concerned optimistic analytical Type policy analytical inspirational When to use this quote - national budgeting - corporate strategy - urban planning - energy transition - public health Key Concepts sustainable development externalities cost‑benefit analysis Questions to Reflect On - How can we measure well‑being beyond GDP? - What incentives best align profit with carbon reduction? A Different Perspective If growth is forced without environmental safeguards, long‑term costs may outweigh short‑term gains. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Carbon dioxide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon-dioxide/) [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [False-alarm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/false-alarm/) ## Related quotes > [There is no doubt that we should take solar radiation into account. We have seen ground temperatures rising since 1975, and it is important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/there-is-no-doubt-that-we-should-take-solar-radiation-into-account-we/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [“One of the great ironies of climate change activism today is that many of the movement’s most vocal proponents are also horrified by global…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/one-of-the-great-ironies-of-climate-change-activism-today-is-that/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [Global warming could be solved by shifting three to four per cent of global GDP to pay for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-livingstone/global-warming-could-be-solved-by-shifting-three-to-four-per-cent-of/) [Ken Livingstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-livingstone/) > [If Europe today accounts for just over 7 per cent of the world’s population, produces around 25 per cent of global GDP and has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/if-europe-today-accounts-for-just-over-7-per-cent-of-the-world-s/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [“We should be innovating tomorrow’s technologies rather than erecting today’s inefficient turbines and solar panels. We should explore fusion, fission, water splitting, ...algae grown…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/we-should-be-innovating-tomorrow-s-technologies-rather-than-erecting/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [“The Paris Agreement will have no perceptible impact on malaria because it will lead to such small temperature changes; in fact, it is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/the-paris-agreement-will-have-no-perceptible-impact-on-malaria/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [“Climate policies often make life WORSE specifically for the poor...Choosing climate policies over growth policies doesn’t just do nothing. It means more people die…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/climate-policies-often-make-life-worse-specifically-for-the-poor/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [“Biomass, which basically is a fancy-sounding name for wood, is one of the old, reliable renewables that can produce energy when it is needed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/biomass-which-basically-is-a-fancy-sounding-name-for-wood-is-one-of/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [“When a company (e.g. Enron) is calling for more environmental regulation, we need to look very carefully at what they might stand to gain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/when-a-company-e-g-enron-is-calling-for-more-environmental-regulation/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [“A carbon tax forces you to take into account the climate disbenefits that your purchase is responsible for, so you can weigh these against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/a-carbon-tax-forces-you-to-take-into-account-the-climate-disbenefits/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [“By making people richer, especially in the world’s poorest countries, freer trade would also lead to societies far more resilient to climate shocks, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/by-making-people-richer-especially-in-the-world-s-poorest-countries/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [“We must rein in temperature increases and help ensure that the most vulnerable can adapt. But today’s popular climate change policies of rolling out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/we-must-rein-in-temperature-increases-and-help-ensure-that-the-most/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [“The negative impacts (of biofuels) were much greater than most had anticipated...the amount of crops needed to fill an SUV’s fuel tank with biofuel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/the-negative-impacts-of-biofuels-were-much-greater-than-most-had/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [“We should not confuse the rising costs of flooding with flooding itself (or indeed with climate change). It is entirely caused by more houses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/we-should-not-confuse-the-rising-costs-of-flooding-with-flooding/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [From the recycling miracles in the soil; an army of predators ridding us of unwanted pests; an abundance of life creating a genetic codebook…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-juniper/from-the-recycling-miracles-in-the-soil-an-army-of-predators-ridding/) [Tony Juniper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-juniper/) ## More by Bjorn Lomborg > [If every country committed to spending 0.05 per cent of GDP on researching non-carbon-emitting energy technologies, that would cost $25 billion a year, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/if-every-country-committed-to-spending-0-05-per-cent-of-gdp-on/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [For the longest time in Denmark I didn't want to say what I was politically. I thought it was irrelevant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/for-the-longest-time-in-denmark-i-didn-t-want-to-say-what-i-was/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [It seems incontrovertible to me that there is a global warming effect and that it is going to be serious, probably not in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/it-seems-incontrovertible-to-me-that-there-is-a-global-warming-effect/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [I'm an old member of Greenpeace. I worried intensely, as I think most of my friends did, that the world was coming apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/i-m-an-old-member-of-greenpeace-i-worried-intensely-as-i-think-most/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [Even if I was a bad right wing guy, to the extent of whether my arguments are right or wrong, they're right or wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/even-if-i-was-a-bad-right-wing-guy-to-the-extent-of-whether-my/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [Lots of people say we should fly less, heat less, and put on a sweater. But it's not going to happen. People are happy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/lots-of-people-say-we-should-fly-less-heat-less-and-put-on-a-sweater/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [Wishful thinking is not sound public policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/wishful-thinking-is-not-sound-public-policy/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [“One of the great ironies of climate change activism today is that many of the movement’s most vocal proponents are also horrified by global…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/one-of-the-great-ironies-of-climate-change-activism-today-is-that/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [The obvious issue is providing clean drinking water and sanitation to every single human being on earth at the cost of little more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/the-obvious-issue-is-providing-clean-drinking-water-and-sanitation-to/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [My suggestion is that we should first work to ensure the Third World has clean drinking water and sanitation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/my-suggestion-is-that-we-should-first-work-to-ensure-the-third-world/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [“We should not confuse the rising costs of flooding with flooding itself (or indeed with climate change). It is entirely caused by more houses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/we-should-not-confuse-the-rising-costs-of-flooding-with-flooding/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [Money spent on carbon cuts is money we can't use for effective investments in food aid, micronutrients, HIV/AIDS prevention, health and education infrastructure, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/money-spent-on-carbon-cuts-is-money-we-can-t-use-for-effective/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [“The negative impacts (of biofuels) were much greater than most had anticipated...the amount of crops needed to fill an SUV’s fuel tank with biofuel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/the-negative-impacts-of-biofuels-were-much-greater-than-most-had/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [But this is an occupational hazard of being a scientist. You say this is the best information I have and then you realize that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/but-this-is-an-occupational-hazard-of-being-a-scientist-you-say-this/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [When thinking about the future, it is fashionable to be pessimistic. Yet the evidence unequivocally belies such pessimism. Over the past centuries, humanity's lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/when-thinking-about-the-future-it-is-fashionable-to-be-pessimistic/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) [Explore all 76 Bjorn Lomborg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) ## More Carbon dioxide quotes > [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [Breathing is give(carbon dioxide) and take(oxygen), such is life, find balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-williams/breathing-is-give-carbon-dioxide-and-take-oxygen-such-is-life-find/) Marcel Williams > [We have to slow down the emissions of carbon dioxide and methane from coal burning, oil and eventually natural gas... And the best ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramez-naam/we-have-to-slow-down-the-emissions-of-carbon-dioxide-and-methane-from/) [Ramez Naam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramez-naam/) > [Whether carbon dioxide is quite the environmental villain that some people make it out to be is not yet proven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-abbott/whether-carbon-dioxide-is-quite-the-environmental-villain-that-some/) [Tony Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-abbott/) > [As we pump greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide, making the seawater acidic and hostile for shellfish and corals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-gardiner/as-we-pump-greenhouse-gases-into-our-atmosphere-the-ocean-absorbs/) [Barry Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-gardiner/) > [ \[The doctrine of air\] I was led into in consequence of inhabiting a house adjoining to a public brewery, where I at first amused… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-priestley/the-doctrine-of-air-i-was-led-into-in-consequence-of-inhabiting-a/) [Joseph Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-priestley/) > [“The discovery of an interaction among the four hemes made it obvious that they must be touching, but in science what is obvious is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-discovery-of-an-interaction-among-the-four-hemes-made-it-obvious/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The instrument Keeling built, the gas chromatograph, works by passing infrared (IR) light through a sample of air and measuring the amount of IR…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-cullen/the-instrument-keeling-built-the-gas-chromatograph-works-by-passing/) [Heidi Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-cullen/) > [If food was no longer obliged to make intercontinental journeys, but stayed part of a system in which it can be consumed over short…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-petrini/if-food-was-no-longer-obliged-to-make-intercontinental-journeys-but/) [Carlo Petrini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-petrini/) > [I know that nuclear is better than fossil fuels when it comes to carbon dioxide, but nuclear energy is by no means clean. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-crow/i-know-that-nuclear-is-better-than-fossil-fuels-when-it-comes-to/) [Sheryl Crow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-crow/) > [Centuries-old habitats such as coral gardens are destroyed in an instant by bottom trawls, pulverized by weighted nets into barren plains. And global carbon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-danson/centuries-old-habitats-such-as-coral-gardens-are-destroyed-in-an/) [Ted Danson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-danson/) > [Now, we put out a lot of carbon dioxide every year, over 26 billion tons. For each American, it's about 20 tons. For people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/now-we-put-out-a-lot-of-carbon-dioxide-every-year-over-26-billion/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Plate tectonics is not all havoc and destruction. The slow movement of continents and ocean floors recycles carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/plate-tectonics-is-not-all-havoc-and-destruction-the-slow-movement-of/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Carbon dioxide pollution is transforming the chemistry of the ocean, rapidly making the water more acidic. In decades, rising ocean acidity may challenge life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigourney-weaver/carbon-dioxide-pollution-is-transforming-the-chemistry-of-the-ocean/) [Sigourney Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigourney-weaver/) > [It’s time to move the debate past the dogmatic view that carbon dioxide is evil and toward a world view that accepts the need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bryce/it-s-time-to-move-the-debate-past-the-dogmatic-view-that-carbon/) [Robert Bryce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bryce/) [Browse all 263 Carbon dioxide quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon-dioxide/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Global temperature and GDP are both rising, and each affects the other… We have to find the right balance between the two factors. 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