Climate Economics with Arvid Viaene
Climate Economics with Arvid Viaene
Podcast Description
This podcast aims to raise the level of conversation around climate change by bringing data and economics to the forefront. As an economist, I focus on quantifying everything — from emissions and their impacts to the costs and trade-offs of climate policies. Episodes will be either expert interviews or solo explorations of key issues.Hosted by Dr. Arvid Viaene, a climate economist with a PhD from the University of Chicago. His research on climate-related mortality has been published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics, and he has advised the European Commission on the impacts of climate policy on firm competitiveness.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The show focuses on critical themes in climate change, particularly the economic implications of policies and adaptations. Example episodes include discussions on the impacts of agricultural emissions on climate policies and barriers to adaptation in the Global South, emphasizing topics like trade, adaptation strategies, and innovations in emissions measurement.
A research-focused podcast on the economics of climate change and air pollution. Episodes are released every two weeks on Tuesday at 6 am CET. Episodes will be either expert interviews or solo explorations of key issues. Hosted by Dr. Arvid Viaene, a climate economist with a PhD from the University of Chicago. He has done research on the impacts of climate change on agriculture and mortality. His research on climate-related mortality has been published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics, and he has advised the European Commission on the impacts of climate policy on firm competitiveness.
What is the social cost of carbon, and why do estimates vary so widely?
In this episode, I speak with professor Frances Moore about her paper synthesizing nearly 150 studies on the social cost of carbon.
We discuss how the literature has evolved, why the distribution of estimates has such a long right tail, and why experts often underestimate the average value found across published studies.
Fran also explains how the paper combines a large literature review, an expert survey, and a machine-learning model to construct a new “synthetic” social cost of carbon distribution.
The result is striking: while the raw literature has a median estimate of around $40 per ton and a mean of roughly $130, the synthetic distribution shifts those figures to around $180 and $280 per ton.
We also discuss:
- the difference between level damages and growth-rate damages
- why discounting remains so important
- how tipping points and other structural modeling choices affect estimates
- the influence of models such as DICE
- why assigning climate damages a value of zero is inconsistent with the evidence
A useful conversation for anyone interested in climate economics, cost-benefit analysis, or how policymakers should value the damages caused by carbon emissions.
Links:
Transcript: https://www.climateeconomicswitharvid.com/p/33-dr-frances-moore-dr-frances-moore
F.C. Moore, M.A. Drupp, J. Rising, S. Dietz, I. Rudik, & G. Wagner, Synthesis of evidence yields high social cost of carbon due to structural model variation and uncertainties, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 121 (52) e2410733121, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2410733121 (2024).
Frances’ site: https://franmoore.faculty.ucdavis.edu/
Related episodes:
· #6 From $0 to $190: How U.S. Presidents Have Priced a Ton of CO₂: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2412056/episodes/17723637
· #21 Dr. Richard Tol on FUND, Climate Damages and Why Adaptation Matters: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2412056/episodes/19410124
· #32 Dr. Gernot Wagner: Why Tipping Points Matter: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2412056/episodes/19410124
For questions, comments or suggestions, you can contact me at [email protected]
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