---
title: "The cost of acting and not acting"
course: "ENVR 200 · Climate change, explained"
unit: "Impacts and choices"
lesson: 15 of 19
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/climate-change-explained/the-cost-of-acting-and-not-acting
publisher: Maestro College
---

# The cost of acting and not acting

Lesson 15 of 19 in **Climate change, explained** (ENVR 200), unit "Impacts and choices". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Compare a representative cost of action (carbon pricing) with a representative cost of inaction (insurance losses) for a single recognizable example.
- Distinguish measurement claims from contestable economic assumptions inside that example.
- Recognize that the capacity to bear these costs is unevenly distributed - the nations facing the worst impacts are often those with the least economic power to act - so the cost of acting is not one number that applies equally everywhere.

## Teaching notes
Emphasize the measurement-vs-assumption distinction. Follows the two response levers (u2l4-u2l5); the costs here become an input to the policy lesson (u2l7).

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 15 complete: The cost of acting and not acting."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "Climate policy: the US and the world" (lesson 16 of 19), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/climate-change-explained/climate-policy-the-us-and-the-world.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: Adapting to change
Next lesson: Climate policy: the US and the world