Shaping Our Future: Climate Policy and Economic Impact

Climate risk, Nurse emphasized, is a matter of “life and death” in her district, creating a “constant economic toll to our businesses” and “to our public housing residents, who are constantly dealing with mold and mildew and then, of course, just the high cost of utilities.”

And the economic cost of climate change is only poised to worsen, noted panelist Ana Baptista, an associate professor of environmental policy at the New School.

Baptista worked on the New York City Panel on Climate Change’s fourth report, or NPCC4, which she said painted a “dire picture,” as climate impacts such as increasing numbers of hot days and pluvial flooding are projected to disproportionately harm vulnerable communities, magnifying existing inequalities.