Environmental Studies

ENVS3766Economics of Climate Change (A) (Cross-listed: ECON 3766) 3 ch (3C)

Climate change is posing a significant challenge to world economies. This course focuses on valuing the consequences of climate change and assessing the costs of mitigation and adaptation. The efficiency of alternative policy instruments such as carbon taxes, tradable emissions permits, voluntary initiatives, and others are assessed. Existing instruments, such as carbon taxes in British Columbia and carbon credit trading on the Chicago Climate Exchange are reviewed and critiqued. The potential contribution of these instruments to the overall achievement of Kyoto Protocol targets set by various countries is examined. NOTE: Credit cannot be counted for both ECON 3766 and ENVS 3766. 

Prerequisite: 3 ch of first-year microeconomics (ECON 1013, or ECON 1014), or ECON 1073, or permission of the instructor.