“Climate skeptics are like those who refused to accept that tobacco causes cancer”

On the occasion of receiving the 10th BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Climate Change, economist William Nordhaus explains how his DICE model integrates economics and the climate system to project policies and curb global warming. He stresses that putting a price on carbon is essential to reflect its real costs and reduce emissions, warns that the commitments of the Paris Agreement are insufficient, and compares climate skeptics to those who denied the link between tobacco and cancer despite the scientific evidence.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Climate Change category has been granted, in its tenth edition, to economist William Nordhaus of Yale University (USA), for founding the field of climate change economics by “pioneering a framework that integrates climate science, technology and economics to address the critical question: What should the world do to limit climate change?”