Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39006801›Full record

ArticleNature climate change2021

Climate action with revenue recycling has benefits for poverty, inequality and well-being.

Mark Budolfson, Francis Dennig, Frank Errickson, Simon Feindt, Maddalena Ferranna, Marc Fleurbaey, David Klenert, Ulrike Kornek, Kevin Kuruc, Aurélie Méjean and 5 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature climate change, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Within-country inequality and the shaping of a just global climate policy.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Carbon Pricing is not Unjust.Global challenges (Hoboken, NJ) · 2024
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Mark BudolfsonDepartment of Environmental and Occupational Health and Justice, Rutgers School of Public Health, Center for Population-Level Bioethics, and Department of Philosophy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0414-0433
Francis DennigDivision of Social Sciences, Yale-NUS College, Singapore, Singapore.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7362-1009
Frank ErricksonEnergy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2195-9424
Simon FeindtMercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC), Berlin, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7419-1346
Maddalena FerrannaDepartment of Global Health and Population, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.
Marc FleurbaeyParis School of Economics, Paris, France.
David KlenertJoint Research Centre, European Commission, Seville, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3186-0938
Ulrike KornekMercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC), Berlin, Germany.
Kevin KurucDepartment of Economics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5391-4012
Aurélie MéjeanCNRS, CIRED, Nogent-sur-Marne, France.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2859-3613
Wei PengSchool of International Affairs & Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1980-0759
Noah ScovronickGangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1410-3337
Dean SpearsDepartment of Economics, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7905-9192
Fabian WagnerInternational Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria.
Stéphane ZuberParis School of Economics (CNRS), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne, Paris, France.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4111-2397

Funding

Pilot Project ProgramP30ES019776 · NIEHS · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI Carmen Joseph Marsit · 2013 to 2026
$22.6M
Scientific & Technical CoreP2CHD042849 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · PI Elizabeth T. Gershoff · 2017 to 2026
$5.2M
NICHD NIH HHS P2C HD042849NIEHS NIH HHS P30 ES019776
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Existing estimates of optimal climate policy ignore the possibility that carbon tax revenues could be used in a progressive way; model results therefore typically imply that near-term climate action comes at some cost to the poor. Using the Nested Inequalities Climate Economy (NICE) model, we show that an equal per capita refund of carbon tax revenues implies that achieving a 2°C target can pay large and immediate dividends for improving well-being, reducing inequality and alleviating poverty. In an optimal policy calculation that weighs the benefits against the costs of mitigation, the recommended policy is characterized by aggressive near-term climate action followed by a slower climb towards full decarbonization; this pattern-which is driven by a carbon revenue Laffer curve-prevents runaway warming while also preserving tax revenues for redistribution. Accounting for these dynamics corrects a long-standing bias against strong immediate climate action in the optimal policy literature.

Identifiers

PMID39006801
PMCPMC11244949

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.