The economic case for tackling climate change now

Brookings Institution
06/03/2023 at 11:00AM

The dangers of global warming are increasingly evident—extreme weather, rising sea levels, wildfires, and melting glaciers—but there hasn’t been sufficient political will to take the steps needed to keep temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius, which scientists deem essential.

To examine the economic case for moving sooner rather than later, the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy and the Center on Regulation and Markets at Brookings will convene a virtual conference on March 6 to discuss two recent papers. The first, by the IMF’s Tobias Adrian and coauthors, focuses on the benefits of phasing out coal as an energy source. Following the presentation, the World Bank’s Carolyn Fischer will react. The second, by Hutchins Nonresident Senior Fellow Glenn Rudebusch and coauthors, quantifies the inverse relationship between carbon prices and future temperatures, illustrating how climate policy choices determine climate outcomes. Following this presentation, Irene Monasterolo of EDHEC Business School will respond. All four will then participate in a panel discussion on the broader implications of these issues.

Viewers may submit questions by emailing [email protected], on Twitter using the hashtag #ClimateEcon, or at sli.do using the code #ClimateEcon.

Welcome

  • David Wessel, Director – The Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy Senior Fellow – Economic Studies

Paper presentation – The Great Carbon Arbitrage

  • Tobias Adrian, Financial Counsellor & Director – Monetary and Capital Markets Department, International Monetary Fund

Discussant

  • Carolyn Fischer, Research Manager of the Sustainability and Infrastructure Team in the Development Research Group – World Bank

Paper presentation – Climate policy curves: Linking policy choices to climate outcomes

  • Glenn Rudebusch, Nonresident Senior Fellow – Economic Studies, The Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy

Discussant

  • Irene Monasterolo, Professor of Climate Finance – EDHEC Business School, EDHEC-Risk Climate Impact Institute

Panel discussion

  • Moderator: Sanjay Patnaik, Director – Center on Regulation and Markets, Bernard L. Schwartz Chair in Economic Policy Development Fellow – Economic Studies
  • Tobias Adrian
  • Carolyn Fischer
  • Irene Monasterolo
  • Glenn Rudebusch

RSVP