96100 - ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS AND POLICY

Academic Year 2021/2022

Learning outcomes

The course will offer students a multidimensional perspective on the dynamic links between human societies and the environment, using insights from environmental, resource and ecological economics. The course will particularly focus on climate change and the associated societal responses, spanning multiple methodologies and approaches (e.g. economic modelling, empirical observation, game theory, behavioural economics, sustainable finance, policy analysis, governance). At the end of the course, students will have a comprehensive understanding of sustainability issues, the methods to study them and the policies to address them.

Course contents

The course will take place in the second semester (period S), from 14/02/2022 to 30/05/2022, and will be structured as follows:

Module I (Alessandro Tavoni)

  • Introduction to core concepts in environmental economics
  • Correcting local and global externalities: international environmental agreements, environmental taxes and cooperation
  • Human behaviour and the environment: game theory, social interactions, experiments
  • Innovation and adoption of green technologies

Module II (Emanuele Campiglio)

  • Economic growth, sustainable development and the environment
  • Climate change, damages, mitigation and adaptation policies
  • Green investments, sustainable finance, climate-related financial risks
  • Governing the transition: governments, central banks, international governance

Readings/Bibliography

Most of the readings will be in the form of academic articles, to be posted on Virtuale during the course. While there is no specific textbook for this course, we recommend reading chapters 4, 10, 16 and 20 of the CORE Economics textbook: freely available at: https://www.core-econ.org/the-economy/book/text/0-3-contents.html

Teaching methods

The course will be a combination of frontal lectures and student presentations.

Each student will be asked to prepare one group presentation per module (for a total of two). Each group will be assigned an article to present to classmates in 15 minutes, followed by Q&A and general discussion. Groups are made of 3-4 students each. Students will allocate themselves to readings on Virtuale on first come, first served basis.

Assessment methods

Assessment will be based on the final written exam (or on the combination of the two partial exams). Exams will include open essay-style questions, exercise and/or multiple choice questions. Students can decide to reject the grade obtained at the exam only once.

 

Grading is as follows:

  • <18 fail
  • 18-23 pass
  • 24-27 good
  • 28-30 very good
  • 30L excellent

Teaching tools

All the course material (slides, readings etc.) will be made available on Virtuale

Office hours

See the website of Emanuele Campiglio

See the website of Alessandro Tavoni

SDGs

Affordable and clean energy Responsible consumption and production Climate Action Peace, justice and strong institutions

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.