Step up climate action now to save cash and planet, economists warn

Delaying cuts to greenhouse gas emissions will lead to significantly higher future costs in the battle against runaway climate change, economists have warned.

They say stronger action to slash emissions should be taken now in order to limit global warming to no more than 1.5C, as set out in the Paris climate agreement.

Failing to do so and later relying on novel technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or reduce the sunlightreachingearthwould be risky and very expensive.

The findings come from a study by academics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, Imperial College London and the University of East Anglia, who assessed around 200 papers on climate change.

It states: “Due to large uncertainties about the economic costs and, in particular, the benefits, there can be no clear answer to the question of whether the 1.5C target passes a cost-benefit test.”

However, the study found major benefits of conforming to the Paris target, rather than the previous 2C goal.

The paper concludes: “There is evidence to suggest that limiting warming to 1.5C reduces the risk of crossing climate tipping points, such as melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, but the reduction in risk cannot presently be quantified.”

Professor Simon Dietz, of the London School of Economics and Political Science, said: “The evidence we have simply does not give us a clear answer on whether the benefits of limiting warming to 1.5C exceed the costs.

“But if we want to keep the option open to limit warming to 1.5C, then unless we discover a much cheaper way to remove carbon dioxide from the air, and if we want to avoid risky methods of blocking out sunlight, we have to pursue the goal of 1.5C degrees now.”