ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

The course aims to provide students with the basic knowledge to understand, assess fitness for purpose and limits of main tools available to environmental policy action at the EU and global lelvel. It will present the theoretical underpinnings of environmental poliy and examine in detail a set of practical examples to undertstand why environmental policy works or does not work. Students will be also enabled to view environmental policy in the ampler context of public-sector interventions and of economic growth and development.

1. Knowledge and understanding
Knowledge and understanding of environmental polcy tool functionning
Knowledge of the historical evolution of major environmental policy initiatives in the EU and global context.
Understanding the connections across environmental policies, economic growth and sustainability.
2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
The student will be able to authonomously assess pros and cons of different environmental policy initiatives, retrieve related data and information sources for their description and assessment.
3. Critical capacity
Undertanding the role of and justification for environmental policies
Ability to relate environmental policy initiatives to economic growth and sustainability.

Basic knowledge of economics and economics of the environment enable an easier understanding of some of the topics presented during classes

- The relationship between economy and environment
- Welfare economics basic: market functioning and efficiency
- The public sector role in market regulation and motivations for environmental policy. Market failure: externality. public goods, imperfect information.
- The tools of environmental policy pros and cons: command and control, taxes/subsidies, property rights. Limits to public action: the examples of the CAP and of fossil fuels' subsidies.
- The theory of international environmental agreements. Transboundary pollution and free riding.
- International environmental agreements: acid rains and ozone depleting substances, the Montreal Protocol
- International environmental agreements: climate change, from Kyoto to Paris.
- The EU environmental policy
- Databases on environmental policy

Lecture notes and readings suggested during classes and available on Moodle
and the following texts (specific chapters will be indicated during the lectures):
- Lieberman, Hall, Principi di Economia (qualsiasi edizione), Apogeo
- Turner, Pearce, Bateman, (2003) Economia Ambientale, Il Mulino
- Tol, R.S.J., (2014), Climate Economics, Edward Elgar
- Perman et al. Natural Resource and Environmental Economics.
- Politica ambientale europea: principi generali e quadro di riferimento. Disponibile a: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/it/sheet/71/politica-ambientale-principi-generali-e-quadro-di-riferimento

Written and oral exam. The oral consists in a class presentation of a group work on a topic chosen by the professor. The written exam consists in answering two open questions on the topics developed during classes. The oral contributes 1/3 to the final evaluation.

Front lectures by the teacher, hands-on introduction on environmental policy databases and seminar on guidelines on how to present in public.

Italian

written and oral