Poverty, natural resource management, and environmental degradation are inextricably linked, and this course explores ways that economic analysis can help identify underlying problems and formulate effective policy responses to them. This course, Sustainable Development and the Economics of Climate Change, is a 10-day field course on environmental issues in developing countries, with an emphasis on issues surrounding global climate change. Thomas Sterner, professor in environmental economics at the University of Gothenburg, are among the lecturers.
Thomas Sterner, University of Gothenburg, Maria Damon, New York University, Jane Turpie and Martine Visser (Course Coordinator) are all among the course lectureres.
Major topics include: relationships between economic growth, climate change and the environment; approaches for understanding behavior, social preferences, and responses to climate variability and disasters in poor communities; what these imply for the management of natural resources; choosing policy instruments for pollution (in particular carbon emissions) reduction and environmental protection; global climate policy and its implications for the developing world; and relationships between human health and the environment.
Students will gain exposure to economic field research in developing countries, learn about behavioral and experimental approaches to understanding environmental problems related to climate change, and visit community projects that employ some of the principles discussed in the classroom.
For more information, please see Course Syllabus
This course is one of the core modules of UCT’s Masters Degree in Climate Change and Sustainable Development, convened by UCT’s African Climate and Development Initiative.
