PNAS Science Sessions: Estimating the social cost of carbon

Welcome to Science Sessions, the PNAS podcast program. Listen to brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in PNAS, plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us. Please scroll down for recent podcasts. Mar 24, 2025 Reconsidering the social cost of carbon Science Sessions are brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, National Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us. In this episode, Frances Moore presents a re-analysis of how the social costs of carbon emissions are quantified. In this episode, we cover: •[00:00] Introduction •[00:50] Climate economist Frances Moore explains the “social cost of carbon.” •[02:21] She describes the background of the study. •[03:35] She talks about the methods of the study, which included a survey of experts. •[05:18] Moore presents the results, including underestimation of the social cost of carbon. •[07:02] She talks about the policy implications of the study. •[08:35] Moore discusses the caveats and limitations of the study. •[09:21] Conclusion. About Our Guest: Frances Moore Associate professor University of California, Davis View related content here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2410733121