Student

Student

Article Review of “Distributional aspects of climate change impacts” by Richard S.J. Tol, Thomas E. Downing, Onno J. Kuik, Joel B. Smith.

Economic Topic- Chapter 6- Distributional Issues
To achieve economic efficiency, one must look at the relationship between total costs and total benefits. Who pays the costs and who reaps the benefits is the subject of distribution. Fairness, or equity, matters to determine how costs and benefits will be distributed. There is horizontal equity, when people of similar circumstances are treated the same way, and there is vertical equity, when people of different circumstances or different income levels are treated differently. When benefit-cost analysis is used to determine the use of a program or policy, it is important to also consider distributional issues for economic efficiency and to show how economic benefits are distributed amongst society. Distribution of benefits and costs can be regressive, where a higher proportion of net benefits go to higher income-generating individuals over lower income generating individuals. They can be proportional, affecting people of all income levels the same, or they can be progressive, where a higher proportion of net benefits go to the high income-generating individuals.

Article Topic
The article discusses climate change and how the impacts of global climate change will affect the poorer communities of the world due to exposure and lack of adaptation. The article focuses on revealing the importance of geographical location and wealth to approximate the aggregate impacts climate change will have. The authors believe there is more to the impacts of climate change on poorer countries other than wealth. They also look at vulnerability and adaptive capabilities. Adaptive capability is the ability to restructure any negative effects of climate change and to utilize the positive effects. There are vulnerable countries that will be exposed to greater climate change impacts and have a...