Mikko Paunio

Credentials

• Docent in epidemiology, University of Helsinki (February 7. 2000).[1]
• Board certification in public health, University of Helsinki (November 2. 1999).[1]
• Master of Health Science (M.H.S.) in chronic disease epidemiology, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health (May 23. 1993).[1]
• M.D., University of Helsinki (March 28. 1989).[1]
• Doctor of Medical Sciences (Ph.D.) University of Helsinki (March 28. 1989).[1]

Background

Mikko Paunio is an epidemiologist who has worked for a number of public health institutions in his native Finland, as well as a brief spell at the World Bank, and is currently Senior Medical Officer in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health of Finland.[1]

As a researcher earlier in his career, he co-authored a famous article in the respected medical journal, The Lancet, exposing a now-discredited research paper which claimed to show a link between MMR vaccinations and autism.[2] [3]

He has written a series of reports and articles for the climate science denial thinktank the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), claiming that international climate policy is preventing developing countries from tackling their public health challenges by “coercing” them into adopting “utopian energy policies.”[4]

In a report called “Kicking Away the Energy Ladder” and published in May 2018, he claimed that climate mitigation policies will “result in the loss of over 200 million lives by 2050.”[5] [4]

Paunio is a member of the American Council on Science and Health’s (ACSH) board of scientific and policy advisors.[5]

Stance on Climate Change

April 21, 2018

In a blog post, he criticised French President Emmanuel Macron for expressing concern about climate refugees in a speech, calling it “appalling, dangerous propaganda.”[6] [7]

October 2014

Previous statements of his seem to suggest he accepts anthropogenic climate change. In a lecture he gave in 2014, entitled “Why are developing countries more vulnerable to projected climate change than OECD countries?” Paunio argued that a lack of infrastructure “makes developing nations and especially their poor vulnerable to CC.”[8] [9]

2008

He is listed at the bottom of a 2008 statement from the Finnish government ministry he works for, stating:[10]

“In recent years, heatwaves, droughts, and floods have caused more and more havoc all over the world. Climate change and especially the effects of weather extremes are a serious threat to health.”

Key Quotes

January 24, 2019

In a report for the Global Warming Policy Foundation, Paunio claimed:[20]

“It is increasingly clear that governments in poor countries realise that there is nothing for them in the climate movement. On the contrary, the actions proposed by the IPCC are a major threat to their people’s wellbeing. So they are going to continue to develop fossil fuel resources, and they will be the better for it.”

April 19, 2018

In a blog post entitled “Freedom of Expression Now!” Paunio denounced “neo-Marxist absurd red-green identity ideology.”[11]

January 2018

In the executive summary of his GWPF report entitled “Sacrificing the Poor: The Lancet on ‘Pollution’,” Paunio wrote:[12]

“Although the authors of the pollution report have sought to take the moral high ground by quoting the Pope’s Laudato Si encyclical on the environment, both of the reports are immoral, and gross distortions of public health science and the historical achievements of health protection.”

January 2018

In an article for The Spectator, Paunio said:[13]

“The Paris climate treaty was just the latest step in the wrong direction, pushing hopes for water supply development still further out of reach for those who need it most. And the apparent focus of the World Health Organisation on climate change – rather than more primary healthcare needs – is symbolic of this abandonment of the poor.”

March 17, 2017

One of the blog posts on Paunio’s website, translated to “Nazis, wind power and climate change,” is based on an article by David Archibald of the American climate science denying think-tank, the Heartland Institute. In it, he calls wind turbines “monsters” and coal “absolutely necessary for Helsinki.” [14]

The subject was also taken up by British columnist James Delingpole in a double-page splash for the Daily Mail.[15]

Key Actions

June 19, 2019

Paunio wrote an article for The Financial Post which was reposted by The Global Warming Policy Forum. The article criticised the Canadian government’s decision to ban single-use plastics, referring to it as “the ugly consequence of the green economy and the urge to recycle.” Paunio asserted that this would lead to Western countries burning large quantities of plastic, as recycling the material was “impossible with current technologies.” He added that large -scale recycling “may never be economically viable or environmentally friendly.”[22]

January 24, 2019

The Global Warming Policy Foundation published another report by Paunio entitled “The Health Benefits of Ignoring the IPCC” in which he criticised the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for supporting the use of biofuels and for “standing in the way of the building of reliable electricity supplies in the developing world.”[21]

The report’s press release said that Paunio believed developing countries were “simply going to ignore the climate warriors.”[20]

April 2018

Paunio published a report for the GWPF called “Kicking Away the Energy Ladder” in which he claimed that “international bodies and NGOs are trying to prevent poor countries from expanding their use of conventional fuels” and “have abandoned the so-called “energy ladder” — the gradual shift to cleaner types of fuel that underpinned the clean up of air quality in industrialised nations.”[5] [4]

He says climate policy will “result in the loss of over 200 million lives by 2050” and is “hampering the expansion of electric grids,” which he argues is key to providing adequate water supplies.

In the report, Paunio contended that environmentalists “fear that by taking steps upwards on the energy ladder, from dirty solid fuels such as cow dung or crop residues, and towards use of electricity, poor countries would become wealthier and so increase their energy use and their carbon intensity.” He added they are “now coercing the poorest countries to adopt utopian energy policies based on renewables.”[5]

January 18, 2018

Paunio wrote an article in The Spectator claiming that the “green lobby’s energy obsession” is “preventing [the poorest people in the world] from developing electricity grids that are essential for adequate water and sewage supplies” because of the “prevailing doctrine that we have to save water and energy at all costs.”[13]

The Spectator frequently publishes articles by climate science deniers such as Charles Moore and its editor, Fraser Nelson.

January 2018

Paunio published a report for the GWPF called “Sacrificing the Poor” with a foreword by climate science denier and Labour Party peer, Lord Donoughue, who is also on the Global Warming Policy Foundation board of trustees.[12] [16]

In it, he claims a report in the Lancet medical journal on deaths caused by pollution worldwide is based on false conclusions and that the 9 million deaths a year it attributes to pollution are actually just a “function of underdevelopment.”[12]

October 30, 2017

Paunio published a paper arguing that sustainability and public health agendas are in conflict for the ACSH who have taken funding from fossil fuel companies such as ExxonMobil.[17] [18]

October 2014

Paunio gave a lecture at the University of Oulu, Finland, as part of 3-day course, called Climate Change, Weather and Human Health. His presentation was entitled: “Why are developing countries more vulnerable to projected climate change than OECD countries?” arguing that the difference between the resilience of developing and developed countries is as a result of inadequate infrastructure, including water supplies, hygiene and affordable, constant electricity, and says there needs to be efforts made at climate adaptation.[8] [9]

Affiliations

• Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health — Senior Medical Officer. [19]
• American Council on Science and Health’s (ACSH) — Member, board of scientific and policy advisors.[5]

Social Media

• @MikkoPaunio on Twitter
• Mikko Paunio on LinkedIn

Publications

A full list of Paunio’s publications in journals is listed in his CV.[1]

Resources

1. “Curriculum Vitae: Mikko Paunio” (PDF), April 2002. Retrieved from ec.europa.eu. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
2. Heikki Peltola, Annamari Patja, Pauli Leinikki, Martti Valle, Irja Davidkin, and Mikko Paunio. “No evidence for measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine-associated inflammatory bowel disease or autism in a 14-year prospective study,” The Lancet Vol. 351, Issue 9112, May 2, 1998.
3. Fergus Walsh. “Long shadow cast by MMR scare,” BBC News, April 9, 2013. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/JpYsg
4. “NEW REPORT: GREEN POLICIES THREATEN POOR NATIONS,” The Global Warming Policy Foundation, April 5, 2018. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/bjdHA
5. Mikko Paunio. “KICKING AWAY THE ENERGY LADDER: How environmentalism destroys hope for the poorest” (PDF), The Global Warming Policy Foundation, May 2018.
6. “Only Mammoths Born,” MikkoPaunio, April 21, 2018. Translated from the original with Google Translate. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/aj5C5
7. “EMMANUEL MACRON: ‘TO RECONCILE AND UNITE THE COUNTRY’,” CNews, April 16, 2018. Translated from the original with Google Translate. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/WTYhH
8. “Climate change, weather and human health – course lectures available online,” University of Oulu. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/n9Enm
9. “Why are developing countries more vulnerable to projected climate change than OECD countries?” (PDF), October 29, 2014. Retrieved from University of Oulu. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
10. “Minister Risikko: Not enough debate in Finland about how climate change affects health,” Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, June 24, 2008. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/A5HaI
11. “Freedom of Expression Now!” MikkoPaunio, April 29, 2018. Archived May 4, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/9F7mb
12. “SACRIFICING THE POOR The Lancet on ‘pollution’” (PDF), The Global Warming Policy Foundation, January 2018. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
13. Mikko Paunio. “The green lobby’s energy obsession is harming the world’s poorest,” The Spectator, January 18, 2018. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/dzNNH
14. “Nazis, wind power and climate change,” MikkoPaunio, March 17, 2018. Translated from the original with Google Translate. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/jNEQU
15. “The world’s biggest wind turbine – nearly three times the height of Big Ben – is to be built off the North-East coast… but JAMES DELINGPOLE says the idea these giants will solve our energy problems is simply hot air,” Daily Mail, April 25, 2018. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/1wP0s
16. “BOARD OF TRUSTEES,” The Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/AnVOI
17. Mikko Paunio. “Sustainability Threatens Public Health In The Developing World,” American Council on Science and Health, October 30, 2017. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/5Q5ND
18. “American Council on Science and Health,” Conservative Transparency. Accessed December 28, 2018.
19. “Mikko Paunio, Doctor of Medicine,” Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. Accessed December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/p4I71
20. “Better For Health To Ignore The Climate Movement,”Global Warming Policy Foundation, January 24, 2019. Archived February 11, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
21. Mikko Paunio. “The Health Benefits of Ignoring the IPCC,” Global Warming Policy Foundation, January 24, 2019. Archived February 11, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/AaDDp
22. Mikko Paunio. “The Western World’s Trash Crisis Is About To Get Very, Very Real,” The Global Warming Policy Forum, June 19, 2019. Archived February 9, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/z0O73

Other Resources