Climate Impacts on Natural Capital: Consequences for the Social Cost of Carbon

Bernardo A. Bastien-Olvera and Frances C. Moore ()
Additional contact information
Bernardo A. Bastien-Olvera: Geography Graduate Group, University of California, Davis, California, USA
Frances C. Moore: Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, California, USA

Annual Review of Resource Economics, 2022, vol. 14, issue 1, 515-532

Abstract: The effects of climate change on natural systems will be substantial, widespread, and likely irreversible. Warmer temperatures and changing precipitation patterns have already contributed to forest dieback and pushed some species toward extinction. Natural systems contribute to human welfare both as an input to the production of consumption goods and through the provision of nonuse values (i.e., existence and bequest values). But because they are often unpriced, it can be difficult to constrain these benefits. Understanding how climate change effects on the natural capital stock affect human well-being, and therefore the social cost of carbon (SCC), requires understanding not just the biophysical effects of climate change but also the particular role they play in supporting human welfare. This article reviews a range of topics from natural capital accounting through climate change economics important for quantifying the ecological costs of climate change and integrating these costs into SCC calculations.

Keywords: climate change; climate damages; ecosystem services; natural capital; social cost of carbon (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q5 Q51 Q54 Q57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-resource-111820-020204
Full text downloads are only available to subscribers. Visit the abstract page for more information.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:anr:reseco:v:14:y:2022:p:515-532

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.annualreviews.org/action/ecommerce

DOI: 10.1146/annurev-resource-111820-020204

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Annual Review of Resource Economics from Annual Reviews Annual Reviews 4139 El Camino Way Palo Alto, CA 94306, USA.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by http://www.annualreviews.org ().