Accounting for risk transitions of ocean ecosystems under climate change: an economic justification for more ambitious policy responses

Abstract Despite the ocean’s role in regulating the climate and providing ecosystem services, the importance of the ocean has only recently gained appropriate attention in the context of international climate change policies. This concerns the impacts of climate change on ocean ecosystems and the ro...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Daiju Narita, Hans-Otto Poertner, Katrin Rehdanz
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10584-020-02763-w
Description
Summary:Abstract Despite the ocean’s role in regulating the climate and providing ecosystem services, the importance of the ocean has only recently gained appropriate attention in the context of international climate change policies. This concerns the impacts of climate change on ocean ecosystems and the role of the ocean in climate change mitigation. Since impacts can be cumulative, future climate risks for the ocean and dependent human communities emphasize the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Here, we make the case that assessing these impacts and their consequences for human welfare would provide not only an ethical but also an economic justification for strengthening policy responses to a substantial degree. Climate change, Ocean change, Climate policy, Ocean acidification, The social cost of carbon, Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs), Risk transition