Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/235121 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper Series No. 09
Publisher: 
Bocconi University, Centre for Research on Geography, Resources, Environment, Energy and Networks (GREEN), Milan
Abstract: 
In this paper, we examine the similarities and the differences between two global problems, the Coronavirus pandemic and climate change, and the extent to which the experience with the Covid19 pandemic can be of use for tackling climate change. We show that both problems share the same microeconomic foundations in that both entail the overprovision of a global public bad and entail externalities whose correction comes at very high economic and social costs. We leverage on a wellestablished problem such as climate change, that has been studied for several years now, to highlight the common traits with the Covid-19 pandemic, but also important differences. The Covid19 crisis is itself a reality check for climate policy, international governance and prevention in general. Indeed, the Covid-19 pandemic is a mock laboratory of climate change, where the time scale of unfolding events is reduced from decades to days. While the former is often measured in days, weeks, months, years, the latter is measured in years, decades, and centuries.
Subjects: 
Coronavirus
Covid-19
climate change
global public goods
mitigation
adaptation,technological innovation
JEL: 
Q54
Q55
Q58
I15
I18
D01
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.