First of all, congratulations on the Piers Sellers Prize that you were recently awarded. Your research focuses on investigating the economic and social costs of the climate crisis. What is the current status of your research?
Our research shows that the costs of climate change are enormous. The purely economic consequences of temperature and precipitation changes alone will amount to trillions of US dollars per year by the middle of the century, as we have shown in a study recently published in Nature. On a global average, we expect economic losses of 19% by mid-century compared to a scenario without climate change. In some regions of the world, the economic losses could be significantly higher. These losses are the consequence of our emissions to date. By the end of the century, they could be even greater if we do not succeed in protecting the climate better. In addition, there are many other consequences and costs of climate change that cannot be measured directly in monetary terms but are of great importance to us, such as the loss of homes, human lives and biodiversity or the threat to social cohesion.
Where do you see the greatest challenges with a focus on social injustice?
Climate change affects almost all areas of life and regions of the world. At the same time, many of the consequences are very unevenly distributed, both between and within countries. Basically, those who bear the least responsibility for climate change and have the fewest opportunities to adapt to its consequences are hit the hardest. For example, the economic losses in countries that are least responsible for climate change are expected to be 40 percent higher than in countries with higher emissions and 60 percent higher than in countries with higher incomes.
In Germany, too, socio-economic aspects are increasingly becoming the focus of discussion due to extreme weather events, among other things. Why are we still too slow in many areas, such as the mobility transition?
Climate protection measures are often presented as an economic burden. Yet it is much cheaper to protect our climate than not to do so. The economic losses that we calculated in the Nature study for the middle of the century are already six times higher than the costs that would be required to comply with the Paris Climate Agreement. So in addition to all the other reasons for climate protection, such as avoiding incalculable risks, there is also a very clear economic incentive.
The interview was conducted in July 2024.
Study Nature (04/2024): The economic commitment of climate change
Picture: Jenna Dellwitz
