Economics for everyone:Environmental economics concepts

This is an introductory course.

Anybody with interest in environment can understand the concepts covered in this course

It is the course which exposes the student to core concepts of environmental economics

The focus is practical

The focus is on case studies and using the case studies to teach the core concepts

The student would be able to apply the concepts to many environmental problems like water pollution, air pollution and climate change

What is environmental economics ?

• Environmental economics studies the impact of environmental policies and devises solutions to problems resulting from them.

• Environmental economics can either be prescriptive-based or incentive-based.

• A major subject of environmental economics is externalities, the additional costs of doing business that are not paid by the business or its consumers.

• Another major subject of environmental economics is placing a value on public goods, such as clean air, and calculating the costs of losing those goods.

• Since some environmental goods are not limited to a single country, environmental economics often requires a transnational approach.

  
  

  What environmental economists do ?

• Broadly speaking, environmental economics may produce two types of policies:

  Prescriptive Regulations

  In a prescriptive approach, the government dictates specific measures to reduce environmental harm. For example, they may prohibit highly-polluting industries, or require certain emissions-controlling technologies.

  Market-based Regulations

  Market-based policies use economic incentives to encourage desired behaviors. For example, cap-and-trade regulations do not prohibit companies from pollution, but they place a financial burden on those who do. These incentives reward companies for reducing their emissions, without dictating the method they use to do so