Q . Which one of the following statements best describes the term ‘Social Cost of Carbon’? It is a measure, in monetary value, of the

long-term damage done by a tonne of CO2, emissions in a given year
requirement of fossil fuels for a country to provide goods and services to its citizens, based on the burning of those fuels
efforts put in by a climate refugee to adapt to live in a new place
contribution of an individual person to the carbon footprint on the planet Earth

Answer: (a) long-term damage done by a tonne of CO2, emissions in a given year

The social cost of carbon (SCC) is an estimate, in monetary value (dollars), of the economic damages that would result from emitting one additional ton of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
- Greenhouse gas is a gas that has the property of absorbing infrared radiation (net heat energy) emitted from Earth’s surface and reradiating it back to Earth’s surface like Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and water vapour.
The social cost of carbon puts the effects of climate change into economic terms to help policymakers and other decision-makers understand the economic impacts of decisions that would increase or decrease emissions.
- A benefit-cost analysis is done to estimate the social cost of carbon.
- A benefit-cost analysis compares the total economic benefits of a proposed policy to its total economic costs.
- The SCC is used in benefit-cost analysis to quantify the dollar value of a policy’s effect on climate change due to changes in greenhouse gas emissions.