Climate policy misses the point: damage to wellbeing remains overlooked
Climate change affects our wellbeing in many ways. In The Conversation, Inge Schrijver, Paul Behrens and Rutger Hoekstra of the CML describe how this is hardly taken into account in the climate models on which global policy is based.
Wellbeing is about health, food, water, income and safety. It also encompasses freedom, trust and a clean living environment. Climate change undermines all of this. It spreads disease, disrupts food supplies and forces people to move due to hunger, conflict or flooding.
The researchers show how climate change affects daily life. They then check whether these effects are reflected in the models used by policy-makers. These models test policies, such as CO₂ pricing or more renewable energy, but fail to take into account many forms of damage to wellbeing.
Read the full article at The Conversation.