You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day.

I'm your host, Elise Hugh.

In 2021, while the world reeled from devastating floods and record-breaking droughts, an investor asked an uncomfortable question.

Is solving climate change really worth it?

In this talk, climate pathfinder Edmund Reese Jones

digs into the question,

revealing the massive gap between what science tells us

about the climate crisis and how the economy measures its impact.

Edmond shares why this is a moment for us to rethink how we model, predict, and prepare

for the turbulence ahead.

2021 was a bad year for natural disasters.

That was the year that floods killed 1,700 people in Pakistan.

And Europe began what would be the worst drought in 500 years.

And that was the year, one of my clients turned to me and said,

is it really worth solving climate change?

Well, look, he was an investor.

What he wanted to understand was the economic return

on the trillions of dollars we have to spend to get to net zero.

So that's a good question, right?

And there's a good answer.

But I also found a problem. You see, there's a good question, right? And there's a good answer. But I also found a problem.

You see, there's a huge gap

...