Economics of climate change

Aims of the course

The purpose of the course is to present to students the economics and political economy of climate change in a way that connects the economic and social and political issues facing countries and regions in addressing global climate change. The key goal of the course is to provide students with an understanding and internal dynamics of the causes of climate change, empirical methods for analysing change and normative ways of creating an appropriate political structure of climate policy from both theoretical and practical points of view. The main focus of the course is on the presentation of the integrated framework of climate and economy together with the interactions used to implement climate change policies. At the same time, the course focuses on the macroeconomics of climate change and the use of mathematical and empirical methods to solve pressing problems of global and regional challenges of climate change.

Course syllabus

1. Introduction and overview of the scientific field
2. Economic costs and effects of global warming since the second industrial revolution: historical temperature trends and economic impacts of CO2 emissions and rising temperatures
3. Negative externalities, welfare economics and public choice theory
4. Economics of climate change: theory and analysis
5. Economic models and some empirical methods of evaluating the effects of climate changes on nations and global economy
6. Economic policy framework to combat the consequences of adverse climate change: taxes, cap-and-trade scheme, carbon permits, regulation and the impacts on consumption and production
7. Political economy of international climate policy cooperation and the Paris agreement
8. Economic analysis of environmental policies in the EU and evaluation of climate change strategies’ effectiveness in EU member states

Course director(s)