## A New Climate Economy

_IMF Blog, November 26, 2019_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [A New Climate Economy](https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2019/11/26/a-new-climate-economy)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/blogs/articles/2019/11/26/a-new-climate-economy/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/blogs/articles/2019/11/26/a-new-climate-economy/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/blogs/articles/2019/11/26/a-new-climate-economy/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Gita Bhatt
- Published: November 26, 2019

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### Overview and framing
- Author: Gita Bhatt
- Date: November 26, 2019
- Theme: Economic and financial impact of climate policy choices; moving from discussion to concrete action on climate change.
- Key framing quote: “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” (attributed to Mark Twain)

### Climate risks and economic consequences
- The changing climate, largely wrought by humans, is bringing rising sea levels, temperature extremes, and more frequent and harsher storms.
- These phenomena threaten to displace lives, livelihoods, and communities, with clear economic consequences, often at a high price tag, around the world.
- Conclusion: Climate is described as “the biggest risk the world faces.”

### Findings and insights highlighted in the issue
- The issue of Finance & Development looks at:
  - The economic and financial impact of climate policy choices.
  - Concrete solutions that offer growth opportunities driven by technological innovation, sustainable investment, and a dynamic private sector.
- Contributions and key points:
  - IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva: Dealing with climate change requires both mitigating damage and adapting for the future; this includes pricing risk and providing incentives for green investment.
  - Kenneth Gillingham: In the long run, the costs of climate action may be lower than we think.
  - Ian Parry: Aggressive carbon taxes would help individual nations meet their emission-reduction goals and scale up action globally.
  - Mark Carney and others: Harnessing finance can open enormous opportunities—from transforming energy to reinventing protein.
  - Ralph Chami and fellow researchers: Saving whales can help save the planet.

### Policy implications and responsibilities
- Collective responsibility: “In this shared crisis, everyone has a responsibility to act.”
- Urgency and collaboration: The world’s fortunes and those of future generations depend on the ambition and urgency with which leaders collaborate to address the global climate emergency today.
- Role of younger generations: Young people, exemplified by Greta Thunberg and others, are presented as reminders of human capacity to remake the world and as stakeholders whose future is at stake.

### Publication and context
- Published in Finance & Development.
- The IMF context: The IMF is based in Washington D.C. and is “an organization of 191 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation and financial stability around the world.”
- Note on authorship: IMFBlog is a forum for the views of IMF staff and officials; “The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF and its Executive Board.”

*Source: A New Climate Economy — Finance & Development (November 26, 2019).*

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## Content in this bundle

- **The Economics of Climate Change – IMF F&D | December 2019**
  - [The Economics of Climate Change – IMF F&D | December 2019 (Markdown version)](/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/12/pdf/fd1219.pdf.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [The Economics of Climate Change – IMF F&D | December 2019 (PDF)](/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/12/pdf/fd1219.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}

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## References

- [more frequent and harsher storms](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/12/climate-change-and-investing-in-resilience-simison.htm)
- [https://www.imf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/cover-002.jpg](https://www.imf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/cover-002.jpg)
- [Finance & Development](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/)
- [sustainable investment](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/12/green-bonds-offer-lessons-for-sustainable-finance-beschloss.htm)
- [the costs of climate action](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/12/the-true-cost-of-reducing-greenhouse-gas-emissions-gillingham.htm)
- [carbon taxes](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/12/the-case-for-carbon-taxation-and-putting-a-price-on-pollution-parry.htm)
- [harnessing finance](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/12/a-new-sustainable-financial-system-to-stop-climate-change-carney.htm)
- [saving whales](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/12/natures-solution-to-climate-change-chami.htm)
- [Finance & Development](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/12/index.htm)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2019/11/26/a-new-climate-economy_