摘要：Having risen from relative obscurity as few as ten years ago, climate change now looms large amongenvironmental policy issues. Its scope is global; the potential environmental and economic impactsare ubiquitous; the potential restrictions on human choices touch the most basic goals of people in allnations; and the sheer scope of the potential response—a significant shift away from using fossil fuelsas the primary energy source in the modern economy—is daunting. In this paper, we explore theeconomics of climate change policy. We examine the risks that climate change poses for society, thebenefits of protection against the effects of climate change, and the costs of alternative protectionpolicies.We organize our discussion around three broad themes: why costs and benefits matter inassessing climate change policies, as does the uncertainty surrounding them; why well-designed, cost-effective climate policies are essential in addressing the threat of climate change; and why a coherentarchitecture of international agreements is key to successful policy implementation. We conclude thepaper with a summary of key policy lessons and gaps in knowledge.
关键词：climate change; incentive-based policy; international environmental cooperation; benefit-;cost analysis
