Costs and benefits of climate change adaptation and mitigation: an assessment on different regional scales

This policy brief summarises the current knowledge about the costs and benefits of climate change adaptation and mitigation, with the aim to support strategic policy making on climate change. Adaptation costs refer to making society more resilient to climate change; mitigation costs are defined as the costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The benefits of adaptation consist of avoided damage by adjusting to climate change, while the benefits of mitigation consist of the avoided damage due to less climate change. This policy brief provides insight into whether and to which degree climate action should be taken. It focuses on three regional scales: the world, the EU, and the Netherlands.