This course explores the connections between the economy, the environment, and human well-being. Key topics include environmental inequality, globalization and its impact on environmental protection, strategies for building natural assets, deforestation, biodiversity, air pollution, and climate change.

After completion of this course, students will be able to analyze environmental challenges through the lens of Political Economy and distributional perspectives. They will gain knowledge of various environmental policy tools and key concepts in environmental economics, including externalities, cost-benefit analysis, and discounting. Students will also learn to critically assess the strengths and limitations of these concepts when addressing different environmental issues. Additionally, they will understand key patterns of economic, social, and environmental inequality both within and between countries, as well as the main causes and effects of these inequalities.

Please note that at least 80% attendance is mandatory in courses of the type “PI” at WU.

• Inputs by the lecturer
• Group discussions
• Presentations
• Videos

• Discussion questions (20%)
• Participation in class (20%)
• Forum discussions (20%)
• Final exam (40%)

Course enrollment is based on the 'first-come, first-served' principle. If you have registered but cannot participate in the course, please de-register via LPIS during the registration period so that your place is available to students on the waiting list. If there is a waiting list for enrollment in the course, students on the waiting list will be notified after the end of the enrollment period and will be allocated to available places. Students will be ranked by progress in their studies, not by their rank on the waiting list. This procedure, however, is not to be understood as a guarantee of class space.

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