Since its release in 2010, the United States government’s Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) has played a central role in climate policy both domestically and internationally. However, rapid progress in climate science and economics over the last decade mean that it is no longer based on the frontier of understanding. Specifically, extensive new research about the climate, economy, and their relationship has altered understanding about the magnitudes of the projected physical and economic impacts of climate change, as well as their heterogeneity across space and time. This paper provides concrete recommendations on how to rebuild the SCC based on these new advances and return it to the scientific frontier.

More on this topic

BFI Working Paper·Oct 25, 2024

Carbon Burden

Lubos Pastor, Robert F. Stambaugh, and Lucian A. Taylor
Topics: Energy & Environment
BFI Working Paper·Sep 16, 2024

Climate Capitalists

Niels Gormsen, Kilian Huber, and Sangmin Simon Oh
Topics: Energy & Environment
BFI Working Paper·Aug 26, 2024

Filling the Governance Gap: Corporate Commitments and Environmental Externalities in the African Oil Sector

Samuel Chang, Hans Christensen, and Andrew McKinley
Topics: Development Economics, Energy & Environment