Revisiting the social cost of carbon
William D. Nordhaus
Summary
Nordhaus presents the updated DICE-2016R integrated assessment model and uses it to re-estimate the social cost of carbon, incorporating revised data on output, emissions, carbon cycle, and climate dynamics. The updated model yields a substantially higher social cost of carbon than earlier DICE versions and indicates that limiting warming to 2.5°C is feasible only with very rapid and stringent emissions reductions. The paper concludes that current policies fall well short of an economically optimal climate trajectory.
Key findings
- Estimates the social cost of carbon at roughly $31 per ton of CO2 in 2010 (2010 USD) under the updated DICE-2016R baseline.
- Updated parameters raise the social cost of carbon by about 50 percent relative to prior DICE estimates.
- Achieving stringent temperature targets such as 2.5°C requires near-term, aggressive emissions cuts that go well beyond current policy.
Subjects & keywords
Cite this paper
William D. Nordhaus (2017). Revisiting the social cost of carbon. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1609244114
@article{nordhaus2017revisiting,
author = {William D. Nordhaus},
title = {Revisiting the social cost of carbon},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.1609244114},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1609244114}
}