Vulnerability, Income Growth and Climate Change

Cross-country data on energy consumption, GDP and vulnerability are used to measure percentage changes in vulnerability associated with percentage changes in per capita GDP and per capita energy consumption. Energy consumption, through its nonlinear effects on per capita income, have the effect of reducing a country’s overall vulnerability to climate change by a greater amount at moderate income levels than at low and high incomes. An implication is that country-specific climate change policies which emphasize carbon reductions through per capita reductions in energy use, especially in developing regions of the globe, are unlikely to reduce vulnerability to climate change, especially at very low incomes.