Environmental economics is a powerful and comprehensive approach to understanding, assessing, and addressing the world’s most pressing environmental and sustainability challenges. This course, “Environmental Economics,” provides training in the principles, conceptual frameworks, and applications of environmental economics.

The course will help you develop and analyze climate policy and energy policy, and assess sustainability policy and practice. You will begin by exploring the key concepts of the sustainability economy, including market failures and externalities, like CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. Learn how to use tools like benefit-cost analysis, time discounting, and environmental policy instruments to make strategic decisions in your role. Additional topics covered include the economic valuation of nonmarket environmental goods and services, specific policy instruments like CO2 cap-and-trade programs, time discounting for intertemporal decision-making, benefit-cost analysis of environmental regulations, the global energy transition to renewables, and global climate policy. By understanding both sustainable and unsustainable economic practices and activities, you’ll learn to make policy and financial decisions that have positive impacts on our planet and your organization. This is the first course in “Green Skills for a Sustainable and Just Future," a course series dedicated to shaping the next generation of sustainable practices and leadership.