By relying on inaccurate economic models, the organization is misleading policymakers around the world about the risks of climate change, according to the researchers at the Environmental Defense Fund, Harvard University and the London School of Economics who co-authored the paper.
Current estimates for how much climate change will cost take different forms.
Other projections are more broad, putting the worldwide figure at $535 trillion by the end of this century.
“It’s difficult to quantify that,” said study co-author Thomas Stoerk, an economist at the Environmental Defense Fund, when asked to give his own estimate.
• These forecasts are based on an average of all possible climate change scenarios, even though newer models account for the increased likelihood of more warming.
“There are some models out there that quantify how much the uncertainty itself ― not knowing what’s going to happen ― drives economic estimates.”.
Climate-fueled natural disasters caused $330 billion in losses from uninsured damages just last year, according to a report from the world’s biggest reinsurer. »