Climate Change Is Real, and Really Expensive
The economic case for climate action is hardening — and putting heat on policy makers.
Economists agree.
Photographer: Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty Images
In the chilly and rarefied air of Davos, recent days saw yet another surge in the temperature of the world’s debate on climate change. While Greta Thunberg led pleas to political leaders at the World Economic Forum for urgent action to avert climate catastrophe, Donald Trump used the same platform to denounce “prophets of doom.” The virtual confrontation between Trump and Thunberg came just weeks after a UN climate change summit in Madrid ended in a stalemate.
The near-apocalyptic spectacle of still-smoldering Australian bushfires, and another year of record temperatures and extreme weather, might seem like enough to jolt the world out of its paralysis. Yet a worldwide consensus for more radical action on climate change remains elusive. Why?