Real People, Real Impacts: The Climate Impact Equity Lens

This policy brief introduces the Climate Impact Equity Lens (CIEL), a tool developed by the Stockholm Environment Institute to analyze climate change impacts on individuals rather than relying on aggregate regional or global economic models. CIEL identifies 'winners' and 'losers' by comparing the costs of climate damages against the savings gained from not investing in emission reductions. The brief argues that while many currently benefit from inaction, the majority of the global population will suffer net losses by 2100, and almost everyone will be a net loser by 2150, necessitating more stringent and fair climate policies to protect the most vulnerable.

• Conventional climate-economics models often use aggregate figures and per capita averages for the world or large regions, which fail to capture the diversity of outcomes and the severity of impacts on specific vulnerable individuals.
• The Climate Impact Equity Lens (CIEL) tool evaluates whether individuals are net 'winners' or 'losers' by comparing projected climate damages (such as flooding and lost income) against the savings achieved by avoiding the costs of emission reductions.
• CIEL estimates vulnerability based on four specific factors: per capita income, economic vulnerability (reliance on sectors like agriculture, fishing, and tourism), vulnerability to sea-level rise, and the adequacy of local water supply.
• By the year 2100, the average person in Africa and Developing Asia/Pacific is projected to suffer net losses, while average persons in China, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Other High Income regions, and the United States are projected to see net gains.
• Long-term projections indicate that by 2150, almost every individual across all nine world regions will experience net losses from climate change, with the sole exception of China.
• The brief suggests that climate policies based on protecting the most vulnerable individuals would be significantly more stringent than those based on regional or global averages, requiring emissions to be halved by 2050 and reduced to nearly zero by 2100.

APA

Stanton, E. A., Bueno, R., & Davis, M. (2011). Real People, Real Impacts: The Climate Impact Equity Lens. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-PolicyBrief-Stanton-RealPeopleRealImpacts-2011.pdf

Chicago

Stanton, Elizabeth A., Ramón Bueno, and Marion Davis. Real People, Real Impacts: The Climate Impact Equity Lens. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2011. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-PolicyBrief-Stanton-RealPeopleRealImpacts-2011.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stanton |first1=Elizabeth A. |last2=Bueno |first2=Ramón |last3=Davis |first3=Marion |title=Real People, Real Impacts: The Climate Impact Equity Lens |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=November 2011 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-PolicyBrief-Stanton-RealPeopleRealImpacts-2011.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stanton2011real, author = {Stanton, Elizabeth A. and Bueno, Ramón and Davis, Marion}, title = {{Real People, Real Impacts: The Climate Impact Equity Lens}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2011}, month = nov, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-PolicyBrief-Stanton-RealPeopleRealImpacts-2011.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }