The Cost of Doing Nothing about Climate Change

There is a wide range of estimates of the future costs of climate change, but the estimates have one thing in common: they’re big.

A 2024 study published in Nature projects that the world economy will experience an income loss of about 19 percent within the next quarter century—or about $38 trillion per year, regardless of the action we take to reduce emissions, and that the cost will steadily increase from there if emissions are not substantially reduced. A recent study from Consumer Reports expresses the cost in terms of the lifetime costs to a baby born in 2024: $500,000 to $1 million.

No matter how you measure the costs, it’s clear that taking action now to limit climate change is much cheaper than waiting to pay the costs of the damages in the future. The 2024 Nature study found that the cost of reducing emissions to achieve the Paris Climate Agreement is about one sixth of the cost of damage already committed to, and orders of magnitude less than the cost of future damage if emissions are not substantially reduced.

Among the many actions we can take, one policy stands out as being particularly cost-effective: putting a fee on carbon pollution. And if the proceeds of the carbon fee are returned to the people in equal shares, the policy is also equitable.

For Hawaii ask your legislators to support Carbon Cashback.

For National legislation ask your Senators and Representative to support the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 5744).