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Climate change and the economy

Addressing climate change and the economic damage it will likely bring presents policymakers with a dilemma. The benefits of policy action are uncertain and would accrue largely to future generations, whereas the costs of policies run the risk of being more immediate and extensive. At the same time, the costs of inaction are irreversible, potentially catastrophic, and likely to hit poorer countries harder than developed ones. Moreover, even if the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that accumulate in the atmosphere and warm the climate stopped immediately, temperatures would rise for some decades because of the emissions already accumulated. March 2008

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