Dynamics and distribution of climate change impacts : insights for assessing mitigation pathways.

Summary Because climate change affects the economy at different scales, quantifying its impacts is particularly difficult. However, understanding these impacts is essential to develop an appropriate response in terms of mitigation and adaptation. It allows us to set regional and global targets in light of the costs of inaction, and to prepare for adaptation by identifying future vulnerabilities. This thesis focuses on how the dynamics and distribution of climate change impacts affect the assessment of mitigation trajectories. First, I show that the dynamics of the climate system play an important role in understanding the resulting economic damages, which can increase the social value of carbon. In a second step, taking into account the heterogeneity of impacts across countries, I study the distributional effects of different emission trajectories. Finally, I show how spillover effects and structural change can modify the distribution of climate change costs, through the example of impacts on labor productivity.