Welcome to the course Environmental economics!

We are all aware that the world is facing severe environmental challenges like climate change, pollution and loss of natural resources. Decision-makers formulate policies to address environmental challenges, but what are the financial impacts of these policies? Environmental economics is an area of economics that studies the financial impact of environmental policies. In this course you will learn about negative externalities, like air pollution and overfishing of our seas, and their effects on the economy. You will also study the costs and benefits of different environmental policies and the possible economic consequences of environmental degradation. If you want to learn more about how to determine what is required for policies to solve our environmental challenges, while having a minimal financial impact, then this course is for you.

Course aim

The objective of the course is to give the student a good understanding of environmental economics in relation to neoclassical economics and sustainable development.

Course content

The course will address the following: cases with a focus on sustainability and climate change issues; relevant environmental policies on a global level to the national level, with a focus on EU and Sweden; the economic value of the environment; economic effects of environmental externalities; financial implications of environmental policies; relations between externalities, environmental policies and sustainable development.

Course syllabus

Visit our webpage with the course syllabus to learn more about the objectives, learning outcomes, specific requirements, and examination. More information about how the course is embedded in programme can be found in the section Course placement in the programme (link).

Sustainable development goals addressed