The U.S. stands to gain upwards of $10 trillion by 2050 in direct benefits from other countries' efforts to fight climate change by lowering carbon emissions, according to a new report released Thursday, less than a month ahead of the 2015 U.N. climate conference in Paris.
The report, released by the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University of Law, examined the "social cost of carbon" and argues that the financial benefit of other countries lowering carbon emissions should be enough reason for the U.S. to lead the effort against climate change at the U.N. conference by securing carbon reduction pledges from countries like China and India.
"There's a really strong economic self-interest for the United States to try to lead this effort and build a global coalition around [climate] action," said report co-author Jason Schwartz, legal director at the Institute for Policy Integrity, reported The Washington Post. "A lot of the arguments that advocates use to push the United States to lead are based on moral responsibilities to solve a global problem, and that's certainly a valid perspective - but there's also an economic perspective."
Other nations' existing policies that lessen the effects of climate change have already benefited the U.S. by some $200 billion. That number could rise to more than $2 trillion by 2030 and $10 trillion by mid-century if the 150 countries at the U.N. climate meeting develop an agreement that holds each nation to its own emission reduction goals, according to the report.
Due to the U.S.'s "unique place among countries - both as the largest economy with trade‐ and investment‐dependent links throughout the world, and as a military superpower," it is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change that will spill over from other regions of the world, the report explains.
Without significant policy changes in other countries, climate change could cause the U.S. to lose trillions from "lost agricultural and labor productivity, trade and energy supply disruptions, negative public health consequences, ocean acidification, extreme weather events, flooding, wildfires, increased pests and pathogens, water shortages, migration, regional conflicts, and loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, among others."
These losses include higher prices on goods when nations the U.S. imports from experience climate-related disasters, as well as lower demand for U.S. products when countries affected by climate change can no longer afford them, The Huffington Post notes. The authors pointed out the possibility of mass migration to the U.S. from countries that experience a decline in crop yields due to climate change.
"For example, a 10 percent decline in crop yields could trigger the emigration of 2 percent of the entire Mexican population to other regions, mostly the United States," which could strain the U.S. economy, increase expenditures on migration prevention and lead to outbreaks of infectious diseases, the report says.
