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Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing the world today. There is great uncertainty regarding its future impacts on a planetary scale and the extent to which each eco-system and region will be affected. Although there has been much published on climate change mitigation policies, the economics of adaptation to climate change is an area of research that is gathering speed and is considered to constitute a central pillar of any adaptation strategy or plan. The book deals with the varied economic challenges that arise from the implication of adaptation policies, making a timely and important contribution to the study of climate change economics. Bringing together the world's leading international experts in the area and including the most up to date research that has emerged over the last couple of years, the book should prove essential reading for researchers and policy makers in the field of environmental economics and climate change.
About the author
Anil Markandya is Scientific Director of the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), an Ikerbasque Research Professor, and an affiliate of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).
Ibon Galarraga is Deputy Director and Research Professor at the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3) and an affiliate of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).
Elisa Sainz de Murieta is a junior researcher at the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3) and the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).
Summary
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing human kind owing to the great uncertainty regarding future impacts, which affect all regions and many ecosystems. Many publications deal with economic issues relating to mitigation policies, but the economics of adaptation to climate change has received comparatively little attention. However, this area is is critical and a central pillar of any adaptation strategy or plan and is the economic dimension, which therefore merits the increase in attention it is receiving.
This book deals with the difficulties that face the economics of adaptation. Critical issues include: uncertainty; baselines; reversibility, flexibility and adaptive management; distributional impacts; discount rates and time horizons; mixing monetary and non-monetary evaluations and limits to the use of cost-benefit analysis; economy-wide impacts and cross-sectoral linkages. All of these are addressed in the book from the perspective of economics of adaptation. Other dimensions of adaptation are also included, such as the role of low- and middle-income countries, technology and the impacts of extreme events.
This timely book will prove essential reading for international researchers and policy makers in the fields of natural resources, environmental economics and climate change.
Additional text
Anil Markandya, one of the world's experts on the economics of climate change, has assembled a group of his peers to analyze the complex, under-researched issues involved in deciding how best to adapt to the now-unavoidable changes in climate. Adaptation to a warmer world is a very critical item on our policy agenda, one that does not have nearly the prominence that it merits. This volume is a step in redressing that imbalance.–Geoffrey Heal, Donald C. Waite III Professor of Social Enterprise, Columbia Business School, USA; Coordinating Lead Author, IPCC WGII 5th Assessment
In future years, this edited volume will be seen as a landmark for its timely and important contribution to our understanding of the economics of climate change adaptation.–Edward B. Barbier, John S Bugas Professor of Economics, Department of Economics and Finance, University of Wyoming, USA
This book represents a state of the art on the economics of adaptation and will be of great use to all those working in this field.–Martin Parry, Visiting Professor at Grantham Institute and Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London; Co-Chair of IPCC WGII Fourth assessment
