Urban and non-urban contributions to the social cost of carbon
Abstract The social cost of carbon (SCC) serves as a concise measure of climate change’s economic impact, often reported at the global and country level. SCC values tend to be disproportionately high for less-developed, populous countries. Previous studies do not distinguish between urban and non-ur...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59466-y |
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| author | Francisco Estrada Veronica Lupi W. J. Wouter Botzen Richard S. J. Tol |
| author_facet | Francisco Estrada Veronica Lupi W. J. Wouter Botzen Richard S. J. Tol |
| author_sort | Francisco Estrada |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The social cost of carbon (SCC) serves as a concise measure of climate change’s economic impact, often reported at the global and country level. SCC values tend to be disproportionately high for less-developed, populous countries. Previous studies do not distinguish between urban and non-urban areas and ignore the synergies between local and global warming. High exposure and concurrent socioenvironmental problems exacerbate climate change risks in cities. Using a spatially explicit integrated assessment model, the SCC is estimated at USD$187/tCO2, rising to USD$490/tCO2 when including urban heat island (UHI) warming. Urban SCC dominates, representing about 78%-93% of the global SCC, due to both urban exposure and the UHI. This finding implies that the highest global greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitters also experience the largest economic losses. Global cities have substantial leverage on climate policy at the national and global scales and strong incentives for a swift transition to a low-carbon economy. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0a3e27f7e8b442ff9b788c5993189bc1 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-0a3e27f7e8b442ff9b788c5993189bc12025-08-20T03:09:20ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-05-0116111110.1038/s41467-025-59466-yUrban and non-urban contributions to the social cost of carbonFrancisco Estrada0Veronica Lupi1W. J. Wouter Botzen2Richard S. J. Tol3Instituto de Ciencias de la Atmósfera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoInstitute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije UniversiteitInstitute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije UniversiteitInstitute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije UniversiteitAbstract The social cost of carbon (SCC) serves as a concise measure of climate change’s economic impact, often reported at the global and country level. SCC values tend to be disproportionately high for less-developed, populous countries. Previous studies do not distinguish between urban and non-urban areas and ignore the synergies between local and global warming. High exposure and concurrent socioenvironmental problems exacerbate climate change risks in cities. Using a spatially explicit integrated assessment model, the SCC is estimated at USD$187/tCO2, rising to USD$490/tCO2 when including urban heat island (UHI) warming. Urban SCC dominates, representing about 78%-93% of the global SCC, due to both urban exposure and the UHI. This finding implies that the highest global greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitters also experience the largest economic losses. Global cities have substantial leverage on climate policy at the national and global scales and strong incentives for a swift transition to a low-carbon economy.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59466-y |
| spellingShingle | Francisco Estrada Veronica Lupi W. J. Wouter Botzen Richard S. J. Tol Urban and non-urban contributions to the social cost of carbon Nature Communications |
| title | Urban and non-urban contributions to the social cost of carbon |
| title_full | Urban and non-urban contributions to the social cost of carbon |
| title_fullStr | Urban and non-urban contributions to the social cost of carbon |
| title_full_unstemmed | Urban and non-urban contributions to the social cost of carbon |
| title_short | Urban and non-urban contributions to the social cost of carbon |
| title_sort | urban and non urban contributions to the social cost of carbon |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59466-y |
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