This course examines the economic and policy dimensions of environmental challenges, placing particular emphasis on the distribution of environmental benefits and burdens across different actors and how environmental degradation interacts with income and wealth inequality. Drawing on debates in environmental and ecological economics, the course covers key topics including planetary boundaries, economic growth and environmental indicators, climate change fundamentals, and the design and evaluation of climate and environmental policy instruments such as carbon pricing, emissions trading schemes, and regulatory frameworks. 
Students will engage with theoretical concepts and empirical analyses to understand the social cost of carbon, co-benefits of climate policy, the European Green Deal, risks associated with a disorderly transition to a green economy, and distributional effects of environmental interventions. These issues will be analyzed within the context of global and European climate policy and critically assessed through the lenses of cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and policy feasibility. 
In addition, the course presents a political economy perspective that examines how asymmetries in political participation and the distribution of economic and political influence affect environmental outcomes. This approach considers how certain groups can externalize environmental costs onto others and explores mechanisms to address these inequities in climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. It, thus, presents approaches integrating equity, justice, and sustainability considerations into policy design and contrasts them with the traditional efficiency-based approaches.

By the end of the course, students will have developed the analytical tools to assess environmental problems—such as climate change and air pollution—from both efficiency and distributional perspectives. They will understand the scientific basis, economic rationale, and political impediments involved in designing effective and equitable environmental policies.

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Analyze environmental challenges such as climate change and air pollution using frameworks prioritizing economic efficiency or distributional equity,
• Critically evaluate environmental and ecological economic concepts and policy instruments, including planetary boundaries, carbon pricing, emissions trading, and regulatory approaches in global and European policy contexts,
• Understand and assess the political economy aspects of environmental issues, particularly how economic inequality influences environmental outcomes and policy decisions,
• Integrate interdisciplinary insights to evaluate the co-benefits, trade-offs, and distributional impacts of climate policies, including the European Green Deal and stranded assets,
• Engage in informed reflection and debate on scientific methods, ethical positions, and policy challenges in environmental economics and policy.

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

Inputs by the lecturers Group discussions Videos

Final exam (30 points)

Quizzes (60 points)

Class Participation (10 points)

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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