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As urban populations grow, more people face extreme heat, increasing demand
for natural cooling. Urban trees offer various amenities, including cooling benefits,
yet their economic value is hard to quantify. This paper estimates the implicit value
of urban trees by exploiting the Emerald Ash Borer infestation caused by an invasive
beetle that kills ash trees in Toronto as an exogenous shock. We find that a onepercentage-
point increase in a postcode’s tree cover raises property prices by 1.13%
and reduces exposure to extreme heat, pollution, and energy consumption. These
findings underscore trees as a cost-effective, practical strategy for mitigating urban
warming.
