Sustainable finance
Social Cost of Carbon (SCC)
The estimated monetary damage caused by emitting one additional tonne of CO₂ — the benchmark number in climate cost-benefit analysis.
Definition
The social cost of carbon is an estimate, in money, of the long-term global economic damage caused by emitting one additional tonne of carbon dioxide, computed with integrated assessment models that link emissions to warming, impacts and discounted future costs. The US EPA's 2023 update proposed a central value around USD 190 per tonne (at a 2% discount rate), up sharply from earlier official values; academic estimates vary widely with discount rate and damage assumptions.
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