Title: A Note On The Economic Cost Of Climate Change And The Rationale To Limit It Below 2°C
Abstract: No AccessPolicy Research Working Papers22 Jun 2013A Note On The Economic Cost Of Climate Change And The Rationale To Limit It Below 2°CAuthors/Editors: Stephane Hallegatte, Patrice Dumas, and Jean-Charles HourcadeStephane Hallegatte, Patrice Dumas, and Jean-Charles Hourcadehttps://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-5179SectionsAboutPDF (0.7 MB) ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In Abstract:This note highlights a major reason to limit climate change to the lowest possible levels. This reason follows from the large increase in uncertainty associated with high levels of warming. This uncertainty arises from three sources: the change in climate itself, the change's impacts at the sector level, and their macroeconomic costs. First, the greater the difference between the future climate and the current one, the more difficult it is to predict how local climates will evolve, making it more difficult to anticipate adaptation actions. Second, the adaptive capacity of various economic sectors can already be observed for limited warming, but is largely unknown for larger changes. The larger the change in climate, therefore, the more uncertain is the final impact on economic sectors. Third, economic systems can efficiently cope with sectoral losses, but macroeconomic-level adaptive capacity is difficult to assess, especially when it involves more than marginal economic changes and when structural economic shifts are required. In particular, these shifts are difficult to model and involve thresholds beyond which the total macroeconomic cost would rise rapidly. The existence of such thresholds is supported by past experiences, including economic disruptions caused by natural disasters, observed difficulties funding needed infrastructure, and regional crises due to rapid economic shifts induced by new technologies or globalization. As a consequence, larger warming is associated with higher cost, but also with larger uncertainty about the cost. Because this uncertainty translates into risks and makes it more difficult to implement adaptation strategies, it represents an additional motive to mitigate climate change. Previous bookNext book FiguresreferencesRecommendeddetailsCited byFiddling at the conference of the parties? Peeping into the highs and lows of the post-Kyoto climate change conferences: a review on contexts, decisions and implementation highlightsEnvironment, Development and Sustainability, Vol.7920 December 2023The Macroeconomic Implications of Climate Change on Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case for Sustainable DevelopmentReview of Business and Economics Studies, Vol.9, No.14 March 2021Toward a Sustainable and Resilient FutureThe 'Doomsday' Effect in Climate Policies: Why is the Present Decade so Crucial to Tackling the Climate Challenge?SSRN Electronic JournalUncertaintySSRN Electronic Journal View Published: February 2010 Copyright & Permissions Related Topics Environment Macroeconomics and Economic Growth Science and Technology Development Transport KeywordsCLIMATECLIMATE CHANGECLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTSCLIMATE CHANGE POLICIESCLIMATE CHANGESCLIMATE POLICIESCLIMATESCOST-BENEFITCOST-BENEFIT ANALYSESCOST-BENEFIT ANALYSISDAMAGESDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSECONOMIC COSTSECONOMIC SECTORSECONOMIC SYSTEMSEMISSION REDUCTIONEMISSION REDUCTION TARGETSMODELSPOLICYUNCERTAINTIES PDF DownloadLoading ...