An approach to utilise climate change impacts studies in national assessments

This paper proposes methods to assess the socioeconomic impacts of climate change within the framework of national accounting and macroeconomic models. The methods are illustrated with examples. The framework of national accounting serves several important purposes in the assessment of the national impacts of climate change. First, an accounting system requires that assumptions and output from independent sector studies of impacts be standardised and made comparable. Second, it serves as a checkpoint for the availability and quality of information about impacts of climate change. Third, it provides a starting point for more extensive macroeconomic analysis of impacts. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.