Mitigation refers to efforts that aim to decrease heat-trapping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane by either cutting emissions or increasing Earth’s ability to remove them (reforestation being one such method).

Climate change is causing global temperatures to increase and altering weather patterns, leading to floods, droughts, wildfires, storms and other climate disasters that affect vulnerable people the hardest. From 2010-20, highly vulnerable regions experienced 15x higher death rates from natural catastrophes compared to those with lower vulnerability.

Climate change mitigation initiatives provide many economic advantages, from increased crop yields and healthier citizens to cleaner water supplies and reduced mortality rates. Unfortunately, standard economic models often neglect these multiple benefits when calculating the costs associated with mitigation measures.

One reason may be because they only consider the direct costs associated with cutting greenhouse gas emissions and not all of its indirect benefits. For instance, cutting short-lived pollutants like PM2.5 prevents millions from early deaths caused by indoor pollution exposure while improving food production. It also decreases interference with traditional monsoon and Sahel rainfall patterns to create improved regional climate, health and nutrition outcomes.

Integrating these multiple benefits into standard economic models can assist governments and businesses in making decisions to invest in climate change mitigation efforts. Doing so makes it easier to justify actions often perceived as too expensive, by showing what savings they bring to other sectors such as health, agriculture, or water usage.