Cost of Mitigating Global Warming: $10/Person?
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO 
on 05.11.07
Last week's report by Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) claimed that the cost of stabilizing CO2 emissions would be .12% of the annual gross domestic product. On it's face, that doesn't sound like much, but what does it actually mean in terms of dollars and cents? Our friends at DeSmogBlog did some calculating. Writer Kevin Grandia offers the following figures:
GDP of the world economy: US$60 trillionNot bad, huh? Obviously, no government or entity will be sending out bills for $10 to every person on the planet, but that figure serves the very useful purpose of countering arguments that claim climate change mitigation would wreck developed economies. Given the economic damage that could occur from rising sea levels, more severe weather events, and crop failures, this seems like a genuine bargain. We're almost certain you have thoughts on this... ::DeSmogBlog.12% of $60 trillion: $70 billion
Total population of the earth: 6.5 billion
Cost per person to significantly reduce heat-trapping gas worldwide: $10 a year
Cost of saving the planet from droughts, famine, mass flooding, species extinction and rising sea levels: priceless. ...
Here's the math: $60 trillion/.0012/6.5 billion = 10 (rounded figures)
Image source: DeSmogBlog
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That's with an average yearly salary of $9,000. $10 is a lot of money for a large chunk of the world. To be fair, individuals would pay 0.12% of their own salary. If you make $50,000 a year, your portion would be $60.
Developing nations played very little role in creating the problem. I am assuming that the .012% GDP means that such a cost would not be tied to the population but the economy, so in the US it would be around $45 per person ($12 trillion GDP x .012% = $144 billion/30 million people = $478 per person).
Whereas, say a developing nation like Gambia with a GDP of $3billion and a population of 1.5 million would pay about $2 per person.
No matter how it's sliced, developed nations pay more. But overall $10 per head gives you a good idea of how affordable the solutions are.
As the article said; 6.5 billion people will not receive individual invoices. The cost per person is for perspective and it is as irrelevant as the cost per country and whether developed countries have a different responsibility from developing countries. Also for perspective is the $2-billion that US taxpayers spend every week in Iraq. For the cost of 30 weeks worth of quagmire, global CO2 levels could be stabilized.
the math is wrong.
60 trillion * .0012 / 6.5 billion = 10
great idea to put things into perspective. who should i make the cheque out to?
Putting that into perspective with the Iraq war just shows how absolutely absurd that whole situation has become. Unbelievable
As pointed out above, a vast part of the world doesn't have to money to pay this. 10 dollars US might be a weeks wages, if not longer in many countries.
Coincidentally (or not) these people are most likely to be affected by global warming.
I just don't find this cost statement credible. For starters the bank that will lend the power company 5 billion for a new coal plant is not going to lend out the same money for solar panels.
Our current economy hase perverse incentives that make things like installing a black roof in the desert cheaper (for the builder) even when that black roof will add 40% to the buildings cooling cost for 25 years.
Look out your window and count black roofs. Then listen to the hum of all those air conditioners next July. Ten dollars doesn't replace a bad roof.
"Cost of Mitigating Global Warming: $10/Person"
This is as incorrect as it appears.
This is as incorrect as it appears.
Really? So how much is it in reality?
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Please stop spamming this website.
Thank you.
Something is wrong with your math. I have heard the experts predict a 80% increase in household electric bills from carbon capping.
I know for me personally this would be almost $70 per month! So how can you make this $10 claim?
Maybe many of those 6.5 billion people will not be paying anything?
Something is way off in your math.
So if it is that cheap, then why is it that proposed gasoline taxes come to more then $10 per full up, the cost increases expected for all products we buy do to shipping costs comes to well over $10 in any given month and the cost of electricity is projected to increase by 80%.
$10 per person is a fantasy! That would not even cover the carbon foot print for the scientist who use our tax money already just to study global warming!