Environmental Economics for Public Policy

This course is available for in-person and remote (online) learning. This course examines the 'economic way of thinking' for environmental and resources management. The potential for markets, taxes, and subsidies to address environmental problems is explored across pollution control, water, energy, and climate change, among other areas. Requirements and challenges associated with economic policy instruments are compared to those associated with traditional regulatory-based, or ‘command and control’, mechanisms for dealing with environmental issues. Key economic principles and techniques are applied to contemporary case studies throughout the course, including cost-benefit analysis of infrastructure projects and alternative approaches to managing urban water scarcity. This course will benefit policy-makers and other practitioners who seek to apply, analyse, and/or critique economic approaches to environmental policy, particularly those without previous formal training in economics or experience in applying it to real-world policy challenges.