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Integrated Economics of Climate Change

Integrated Economics of Climate ChangeIntegrated Economics of Climate Change is a four-year project to create models of how climate change will affect New Zealand’s economy. The project focuses on issues relevant to climate change policy. It will also explore how policies and institutions affect the ways New Zealand companies and individuals adapt and respond to climate change.

Motu is working on this project alongside leading scientists and economists in an alliance called EcoClimate. Members of EcoClimate come from NIWA, Landcare Research/New Zealand Centre for Ecological Economics, Infometrics, AgResearch and GNS Science. Visit the EcoClimate website.

NEW: Click here (PDF 277KB) to download our integrated economics of climate change project report to the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology for 2008/09.

Project Summary

This project led by Motu collaborating with other EcoClimate members builds an integrated modelling framework that draws on the results from both natural science and economic analysis. It aims to provide evidence on the direct and trade effects of expected climate change on the economy and how policies and institutions will affect adaptation and mitigation.

The project has three objectives. Follow the links below for information and documents related to each objective.

  • Objective 1 : to enhance and link component models
  • Objective 2 : to run and interpret policy relevant scenarios
  • Objective 3 : to analyse policies for adaptation and mitigation

One of the four existing economic models that we use is LURNZ, a model of New Zealand Rural Land Use, which allows us to empirically investigate the potential impacts of policies designed to alter land-use decisions. For example, LURNZ:climate is able to compare environmental policies related to land use that depend on science and that impact on the environment in a scientifically measurable way.

View the executive summary of the Integrated Economics of Climate Change project.

Motu: Suzi Kerr, Arthur Grimes, Kelly Lock, Wei Zhang
ISCR: Lewis Evans
Infometrics: Adolf Stroombergen
Institute of Policy Studies, Victoria University: Jonathan Boston
The Ohio State University: Elena Irwin