INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE ON THE IPCC 5th ASSESSMENT REPORT: AN ECONOMIC EVALUATION

摘要

This issue contains several critical articles written by top environmental and energy economists about the process of writing an IPCC report and specifically the contents of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. The invited authors include people who were directly involved in the Fifth Assessment Report as well as observers with limited involvement. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Reports including "Climate Change 2014: the Fifth Assessment" achieve many valuable goals: providing an up-to-date account of atmospheric and oceanic science, organizing strong evidence linking manmade greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, listing the potential impacts of climate change, and discussing the projected costs and technologies that would likely be involved in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A broad concern amongst the writers of this Special Issue is that the Assessment Reports fail to provide a thorough account of the economics of climate change. The authors also charge that the Assessment Reports are of limited value in helping design a solution to climate change. For example, the reports do not compare the costs and benefits of a wide array of possible strategies to manage climate change and how these different strategies would affect countries across the world. In addition to noting shortcomings, several papers suggest ways to improve future Assessment Reports.