Revisiting the social cost of carbon
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.