Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
The 2018 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded to William D. Nordhaus and Paul M. Romer for integrating climate change and technological innovations, respectively, into long-run macroeconomic analysis. In recognition of this award, we present a collection of content from Nature Research that celebrates Nordhaus’ foundational contribution to the field of climate economics.
Early efforts by Nordhaus to integrate a simple representation of the climate and carbon circulation system with a forward-looking economic model helped pave the way for what is now known as integrated assessment modelling. Two models — DICE (Dynamic Integrated model of Climate and the Economy) and RICE (Regional dynamic Integrated model of Climate and the Economy) — developed by Nordhaus in the 1990s remain in use today. His work has led to a wide-ranging debate on the social cost of carbon, how to value the future, the nature of economic damages from climate change, and optimal climate policies. His impact on the field of climate economics continues, as we reflect in this collection of Research, Reviews, News and Commentary from our journals.
Efforts to forecast how Earth's future climate will affect us must consider the economic growth of both rich and poor nations. But there are doubts over the theories being used, as Quirin Schiermeier explains.
With country-specific development objectives and constraints, multiple market failures and limited international transfers, carbon prices do not need to be uniform across countries, but must be part of broader policy packages.