economics

The global economy could lose, on average, 19% of income by 2049 due to increased carbon emissions over the past four decades, says an analysis published in Nature. To estimate the future economic damages of climate change, the authors used temperature and precipitation data for 1,600 regions worldwide in the past 40 years. Low-income countries will be more affected by these losses than higher-income countries, the authors warn. 

Eighty-two percent of EU farm subsidies articulated through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) financed high-emission livestock production in 2013, according to a study published in Nature Food. The analysis, which is based on data from 1986 to 2013 - the latest year for which records are available - highlights that 82% went to animal products in the following proportions: 38% directly and 44% for feed production. The authors note that food of animal origin is associated with 84 % of the greenhouse gases emitted by EU food production. 

With just days to go before COP28 kicks off in Dubai -a major city in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates- climate experts are torn between mistrust and hope that world leaders will reach ambitious agreements to combat the climate crisis.

Living as a private renter is associated with faster biological ageing than owning a home, according to a study using a UK database with data available on 1,420 people. The team, whose research is published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, used DNA methylation data - chemical modifications - to measure people's biological age, and says this correlation is stronger than the association between biological ageing and unemployment, or having been a smoker. Apart from blood samples from the database, the research also used historical data from a national survey.

Capping the consumption of European households who consume most energy - those with the highest incomes and education levels - could achieve "considerable emissions reductions", according to a UK research team. This benefit could also be achieved by simultaneously increasing the consumption of the poorest and most vulnerable users. The analysis, published in Nature Energy, estimates that limiting the energy use of the top 20 % of consumers in 27 countries in Europe would reduce emissions from domestic energy consumption by 11.4 %, 16.8 % from transport, and 9.7 % from total energy consumption. The article states that the association between high income and high energy consumption is particularly strong in countries such as Spain, where income inequality is relatively high.

A series on breastfeeding published today in The Lancet highlights the economic and political power of formula companies, examines their marketing practices and the impact this has on the health of mothers and children.

A study published in PLOS Medicine estimates that the implementation of sugary drinks taxes in the UK in 2018 was associated with an 8 % reduction in obesity in English girls aged 10-11, particularly among those living in more deprived areas.

The so-called Nobel Prize in Economics 2022 - officially the Bank of Sweden's Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences - has been awarded to Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig. "They have significantly improved our understanding of the role of banks in the economy, especially during financial crises," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences notes.