On completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Understand the likely implications of climate change on economies and societies.
• Comprehend core concepts and debates in climate change economics
• Apply different assumptions, parameters and variables to a range of economic problems and observe, interpret and debate the outcomes
• Understand key concepts from economics that are used in climate change and carbon management policy making.
• Recognise and assess the economic dimensions of various climate change and carbon management policy challenges.
• Evaluate the key assumptions underpinning climate change economics as used in carbon management.
• Communicate and explain the critical economic issues associated with climate change and carbon management with non-economist stakeholders of the primary polluting industries.

Climate change – The science of climate change and fundamental climate change forecast models. Radiative forcing, global mean temperature, climate sensitivity. Greenhouse gases and the carbon cycle. Feedbacks, amplifiers and stabilizers. Tipping points, permafrost, Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Extreme weather. Uncertainties and projections.

Climate change impacts on ecosystems and humans, climate change mitigation, adaptation and adaptive capacity, and climate change vulnerability. The peculiarities of regional climate change.

The important economic problems of climate change. The tragedy of the commons (property rights) and externalities (atmospheric pollutants and greenhouse gases). The ethical justification of intertemporal decisions and the discount rate. Climate change and social welfare: equity and fairness, social welfare functions, approaches to measure welfare.

The microeconomics of climate change. The Stern Review. Kyoto Protocol, Paris and other International aggrements..Nordhau’s DICE model and other integrated models – basic assumptions and results, limitations and critique. Basic economic instruments: Carbon tax and cap and trade.

Public response to climate change and climate change policy. Abatement costs and the interactions between climate change, climate policy and technology policies. Cost-benefit analysis. Comparison with regulation. The Shadow Cost of Carbon. Coping with uncertainty. Types of uncertainty, the economics of catastrophes, fat tails and the Dismal Theorem.

The macroeconomic impacts of climate change. Aggregation and aggregate effects on GDP, employment and consumption. Tracking climate finance. Greenhouse gas reporting obligations. Major polluting industries.

Business and climate change. Climate-neutral and net-zero business models. Business strategies for climate change. Reporting obligations and disclosure.

Climate change and the limits to growth. Alternative models of growth and development. Technology, production and consumption. Geoengineering, carbon capture and sequestration. Green fiscal policy: from austerity to full employment in a low carbon economy.

Lectures (3 hours per week) and Tutorials (1 hour per week)

The students’ assessment is based upon written exams at the end of the semester and, when possible, on class participation.

• Use of PowerPoint during lectures
• Lecturing notes are uploaded in e-class in the form of pdf files, which the enrolled students can freely download
• Bibliographical material (scientific articles and book chapters) in pdf files, is regularly uploaded in e-class, which the enrolled students can freely download
• Various information and announcements concerning the course are regularly uploaded in e-class
• Distant communication with students (when needed) takes place via e-mail