Ateneo - UPO

The purpose of the course is to provide an introductory but comprehensive framework of issues related to climate change. In particular, we plan to analyze the climate emergency from an economic point of view, discussing the implications of economic policy, for example in the field of mitigation and adaptation. The course will then present the challenges posed by climate change and their impacts, examining the main economic approaches and methodologies. It will also offer an overview of the main mechanisms and processes of international negotiation and the measures taken to tackle this scenario.

N.G. Mankiw e M.P. Taylor (2022). Principi di Economia, Zanichelli Editore, ottava edizione.
R. S. Pindyck (2022). Climate Future – Averting and Adapting to Climate Change. Oxford University Press – ISBN: 9780197647349
Laura Castellucci (2017). Lezioni di Politica Economica Ambientale, Esculapio edizioni.
Further materials uploaded on the webpage of the course on the DIR platform.

During the course, students will be able to tackle the issue of climate change both as an "economic problem" and in terms of growth / development, gaining an awareness of the difficulties in implementing strategies to fight climate change. They will have the tools and skills to be able to follow the international debate on this issue, updating themselves on the content of the main international climate agreements and on the measures adopted.
Through the application of the acquired knowledge, they will be able to critically evaluate the congruity of the decarbonisation and adaptation policies discussed at national and international level to the objectives of containing the temperature increase. They will then be able to search and select the various sources on climate change, in particular those of an economic nature, to inform themselves about the debate and the strategies systematically proposed.

None

Focus groups; case studies and discussion of scientific articles; labs; team work.

Attendance is strongly recommended.

The written exam of Climate Change course is composed of 2 questions for the Physics of Climate and Environment module, 2 questions for Economic Policies and Strategy for Sustainability module and a set of multiple-choice questions for the Climate and Health module. The final grade is weighted for the number of credits of each module.
Further information on the programme will be provided on the webpage of the course on the DIR platform.
Attending students of the Physics of Climate and Environment and Economic Policies and Strategy for Sustainability modules will receive an evaluation on their active participation during lectures, team work and project, on the basis of the teaching conditions that the pandemic situation will allow. For them the written test includes only 1 question for each of the aforementioned modules.

The course explores the topic of climate change from an economic point of view, highlighting its consequences as well as the adaptation and mitigation policies. It will show how the issue is addressed at an international and national level, underlining the objectives set (eg. Agenda 2030, UN Conference of the Parties). In discussing the targets, the reference data will be analyzed to understand this phenomenon and its extent, together with the related economic effects. We will then provide the tools / models used in economic disciplines to evaluate the effects of climate change in order to assess the most effective strategies to be adopted to tackle this emergency.

Once working in a company, students will master how to evaluate the most appropriate policies to be implemented to maximize both collective wellbeing and to achieve the expected business results.