Climate crisis: economists ‘grossly undervalue young lives’
Many economic assessments of the climate crisis “grossly undervalue the lives of young people and future generations”, Prof Nicholas Stern warned on Tuesday, before the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow. Economists have failed to take account of the “immense risks and potential loss of life” that could occur as a result of the climate crisis, he said, as well as badly underestimating the speed at which the costs of clean technologies, such as solar and wind energy, have fallen.
Stern said the
economics profession had also misunderstood the basics of “discounting”, the
way in which economic models value future assets and lives compared with their
value today. “It means economists have grossly undervalued the lives of young
people and future generations who are most at threat from the devastating
impacts of climate change,” he said. “Discounting has been applied in such a
way that it is effectively discrimination by date of birth.”
Youth protests around
the world, sparked by the school strike of Greta Thunberg, have been a key
factor in increasing demands for action in recent years, along with rising
extreme weather events. Recent research shows people born today will suffer
many times more extreme heatwaves and other climate disasters over
their lifetimes than their grandparents…
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