Climate Change, Copenhagen, Developing Nations: UM Nobel Economic Laureate

WHAT:

Media Briefing: On the eve of the UN Copenhagen climate change conference, a panel of international economists will analyze the economic uncertainties surrounding climate change that complicate the work of the delegates.

Given the extreme difficulty of predicting social conditions in 50 years and the magnitude of climate change costs, the economists worry that policy-makers may get sticker shock and fail to give adequate weight to climatological risks.

The panelists will offer analysis, drawing on conclusions offered in a new book, a series of analytic papers called Changing Climate, Changing Economy, published by the Cournot Centre for Economic Studies (Paris, France).

Panelist Thomas Schelling, an economist at the University of Maryland who won the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work in game theory, describes in the book the underlying challenges faced at meetings such as the one in Copenhagen.

"I know of no peacetime historical precedent for the kind of international cooperation that is going to be required to deal with climate change," Schelling says. "I also don't see any chance that we can have enforceable national limits on greenhouse gas emissions."

Schelling adds that the economic impact of climate change will fall disproportionately on developing nations and that industrialized countries will need to bear much of the cost.

The event is co-sponsored by the Cournot Centre for Economic Studies and the University of Maryland.

Panelists will offer brief presentations and answer media questions. Breakfast and free copies of the book will be available.

WHO:

Thomas Schelling, a retired economist and Nobel Laureate at the University of Maryland who began studying climate change in the 1970s, will offer his take on the Copenhagen meeting, what is lacking in international negotiations and the role of developing nations.

Among the points Schelling will address: