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A master's thesis from Aalborg University
Book cover


Climate Change and Economic Growth

Author

Term

4. term

Education

Publication year

2023

Submitted on

Pages

64

Abstract

Cutting carbon emissions is a major policy challenge. This thesis examines how climate change may affect the global economy and how policy choices matter. It uses a simple climate‑Solow model—a basic Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) that links economic growth and emissions to temperature and economic damages. The thesis also reviews prominent criticisms of the DICE model, especially the assumed size of climate damages and how the discount rate is chosen. The analysis illustrates why some argue for valuing damages more highly and shows that the chosen discount rate strongly influences which climate policy options appear most profitable. Compared with DICE, the simple climate‑Solow model provides a reasonable, transparent way to understand possible economic impacts of climate change and the effects of policy.

At nedbringe CO2‑udledninger er en central politisk udfordring. Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan klimaforandringer påvirker den globale økonomi, og hvordan politiske valg spiller ind. Det bruger en simpel climate‑Solow‑model – en grundlæggende integreret vurderingsmodel (IAM), der kobler økonomisk vækst og udledninger til temperatur og økonomiske skader. Specialet gennemgår også udbredt kritik af DICE‑modellen, især størrelsen af de antagne klimaschader og fastsættelsen af diskonteringsrenten. Analysen viser, hvorfor nogle kritikere ønsker at værdisætte klimaschader højere, og at den valgte diskonteringsrente i høj grad påvirker, hvilke klimapolitiske tiltag fremstår mest rentable. Sammenlignet med DICE giver den simple climate‑Solow‑model et rimeligt og gennemsigtigt billede af, hvordan klimaændringer kan påvirke den globale økonomi, og hvilken effekt klimapolitik kan have.

[This apstract has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]