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Accounting for risk transitions of ocean ecosystems under climate change: an economic justification for more ambitious policy responses

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Abstract

Despite the ocean’s role in regulating the climate and providing ecosystem services, the importance of the ocean has only recently gained appropriate attention in the context of international climate change policies. This concerns the impacts of climate change on ocean ecosystems and the role of the ocean in climate change mitigation. Since impacts can be cumulative, future climate risks for the ocean and dependent human communities emphasize the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Here, we make the case that assessing these impacts and their consequences for human welfare would provide not only an ethical but also an economic justification for strengthening policy responses to a substantial degree.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Daiju Narita

  2. Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Kiel, Germany

    Daiju Narita

  3. Integrative Ecophysiology, Alfred-Wegener-Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Hans-Otto Poertner

  4. Department of Economics, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany

    Katrin Rehdanz

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  1. Daiju Narita
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  2. Hans-Otto Poertner
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  3. Katrin Rehdanz
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Correspondence to Daiju Narita.

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Narita, D., Poertner, HO. & Rehdanz, K. Accounting for risk transitions of ocean ecosystems under climate change: an economic justification for more ambitious policy responses. Climatic Change 162, 1–11 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-020-02763-w

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