Sea level rise isn’t a problem that can be offshored. Even for the world’s largest economies and wealthiest nations, the cost of decarbonizing plus preparing for sea level rise that’s already inevitable will produce less economic harm in the long run than doing nothing.
To demonstrate this, an international team of researchers used a combination of climate, coastal flooding, and economic models to calculate the effects of rising waters on gross domestic product (GDP). They considered four different scenarios based on whether global carbon emissions are reduced to levels compatible with the Paris Agreement’s goal of holding warming well below 2° C or overshoot that benchmark, and whether countries undertake measures to adapt to higher waters or not.