In this course current social and environmental challenges will be critically discussed and analyzed from a political economy and distributional perspective. The first part will deal with sources of unsustainable development, economic inequality as component of unsustainability and trends and drivers of economic inequality. Part two will discuss the vicous circle of environmental and social inequalities, adressing issues of unequal access to environmental resources, unequal exposure to environmental risks as well as unequal responsibility for pollution. In part three political, social and economic policy implications and concrete measures how to reduce inequalities in a finite world will be analyzed.

The course is interdisciplinary and will use concepts and literature related to Economics, Ecology, Sociology and Political Science. 

Participants of the course will learn to

• analyze current social and environmental challenges from a political economy and distributional perspective
• identify challenges for social, economic and environmental policy
• critical discuss economic, social and ecological impacts of different climate policy options 
• analyze socioeconomic disparities in environmental quality and disaster vulnerability from a climate and environmental justice perspective

80% compulsory attendance

one class can be missed without negatively affecting the grade

please inform the lecturer beforhand in case you cannot attend a class