A large discrepancy exists between the dire impacts that most natural scientists project we could face from climate change and the modest estimates of damages calculated by mainstream economists. Economic assessments of climate change risks are intended to be comprehensive, covering the full range of physical impacts and their associated market and non-market costs, considering the greater vulnerability of poor people and the challenges of adaptation. Available estimates still fall significantly short of this goal, but alternative approaches that have been proposed attempt to address these gaps. This review seeks to provide a common basis for natural scientists, social scientists, and modellers to understand the research challenges involved in evaluating the economic risks of climate change. Focusing on the estimation processes embedded in economic integrated assessment models and the concerns raised in the literature, we summarise the frontiers of research relevant to improving quantitative damage estimates, representing the full complexity of the associated systems, and evaluating the impact of the various economic assumptions used to manage this complexity.

大多数自然科学家预测我们可能因气候变化而面临的可怕影响与主流经济学家对损害的适度估计之间存在很大差异。考虑到穷人的更大脆弱性和适应的挑战，气候变化风险的经济评估旨在全面涵盖所有物理影响及其相关的市场和非市场成本。可用的估计仍然远远低于这个目标，但已经提出的替代方法试图解决这些差距。本综述旨在为自然科学家、社会科学家和建模者提供一个共同的基础，以了解评估气候变化的经济风险所涉及的研究挑战。