Weitzman argued that the right way to think about climate mitigation is not through a cost-benefit lens, as though particular levels of spending avoid specific levels of damages, but instead as a kind of insurance. We purchase insurance to cover against tail risks all the time, not because we think they’re likely to happen, but because the consequences would be so dire if they did.
The results are startling: The economic impact of carbon emissions is much higher than has been acknowledged, as is the value of reducing emissions.
