California Climate Risk and Response

By David Roland-Holst and Fredrich Kahrl, UC Berkeley

November 2008

This report provides for the first time a comprehensive examination of the economic impacts of climate change and adaptation in California. In conducting this multi-sector assessment, we compile the most recent available science on climate damage, assess its economic implications, and examine alternative strategies for adaptation.

Taken together, real estate and insurance represent the largest economic climate risk for California, yet they are the least studied to date. The report finds that the state has $4 trillion in real estate assets, of which $2.5 trillion are at risk from extreme weather events, sea level rise, and wildfires, with a projected annual price tag of $300 million to $3.9 billion over this century, depending on how warm the world gets. If no action is taken in the face of rising temperatures, six additional sectors, including water, energy, transportation, tourism and recreation, agriculture, and public health, would together incur tens of billions per year in direct costs, even higher indirect costs, and expose trillions of dollars of assets to collateral risk.

Executive Summary also available.  Visit Next 10 for more information.

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