Denmark gives green post to global-warming denier

Denmark's self-styled "sceptical environmentalist", Bjorn Lomborg, is no stranger to controversy, but his recent elevation to one of the country's senior environment jobs has shocked green campaigners and politicians alike.

His book, The Sceptical Environmentalist, in which he claims that the threats of global warming, overpopulation and deforestation have been vastly exaggerated, had the world's scientists clutching their lab coats with despair.

But the appointment of the professor of political science and statistics at Aarhus university to head Denmark's new Institute for Environmental Evaluation in Copenhagen has reignited the uproar. Many believe that under his stewardship the institute will fail to dispense neutral advice to the government.

One media source said: "He is not neutral, his views are extreme and he lacks the necessary qualifications."

Jan Sondergard, of Greenpeace Denmark, sees the appointment as part of a trend by the government to downgrade environmental issues.

Prof Lomborg, 37, is unfazed. "People are going to realise that I'm a nice guy," he said. "I don't eat small children and I don't cut down rainforests."