Figuring the Costs of Climate Change

An Assessment and Critique

Bibliographic Data

ID4138712
AuthorsDavid Demeritt (0000-0002-2030-0807, Environment and Climate Change Canada, corresponding author), Dale S Rothman (0000-0003-1479-2849, University of British Columbia), D Rothman (Environmental Adaptation Research Group, Environment Canada and Sustainable Development Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada)
Year1999
Volume31
Issue3
Pages389-408
Publication date1999-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Planning A Economy and Space (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0308-518X • E-ISSN: 1472-3409
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1068/a310389
OpenAlexW2030052164
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited34

In this paper we examine the evidence for the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) estimate that the costs of global climate change will be on the order of 1.5-2.0% of world gross domestic product (GDP). Although this estimate is widely and authoritatively repeated, it rests on a handful of preliminary studies, chiefly of the United States and performed by a select group of economists. We examine the methods and assumptions of these studies and consider the social and political commitments built into their analytical techniques. We conclude that the prevailing methods of economic damage assessment and valuation provide a highly conservative estimate of the potential costs and risks of future climate change. We suggest that the IPCC scientific assessment process has been organized in such a way as to foreclose public debate about the moral and political judgments built into the technical details of its reports

Climate change · Economics · Gross domestic product · Macroeconomics · Political science · Politics · Public economics · Climate Change Policy and Economics · Economic and Environmental Valuation · Law · Risk Perception and Management · Accounting