Organizing information on the economics of climate change
We started gathering news on “climate economics” with little more than the obvious assumption that climate change would be a driver of economic change, as it is of so many things.
At that earliest stage, we had not established an organizing principle. Which is to say, we hadn’t identified a narrative arc for the information we were gathering.
Now we have.
While opponents of climate action point to its costs, the economic impact of climate change — the cost of its catastrophes, of adaptation, of mitigation — will likely dwarf any short-term economic dislocation. Our goal will be to gather and organize information on those costs, to help our users better understand what to expect in the future and what can be done to meet it.
In the coming weeks, users should see a growth in the information we organize in the climate economics topic page: news, studies and reports, and other resources.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”