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 poilcy tool functionning in the national and international context.
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
Understanding the role of and justification for environmental policies and of the soundness of different implementation instruments.
Ability to relate environmental policy initiatives and instruments 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

- Deepening the knowledge on environmental policy instruments: equivalences and role of uncertainty
- The theory of international environmental agreements. Externalities, public goods and free riding: prescriptions from the game and coalition theories.
- International environmental agreements: acid rains and ozone depleting substances, the Montreal Protocol
- International environmental agreements: climate change, from Kyoto to Paris. Update on last developments. How negotiations occur.
- The EU environmental policy
- The EU and Italian action against climate change. The long-term strategy, adaptation policies and plans.
- Inspecting and using databases on environmental policy

The course is largely based upon policy documents available on line. Sources will be made available and clearly indicated in the class material and lecture ppts uploaded on the moodle course site. Further support to themore theoretical part of the course can be found in (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 with a max of 3 additional points to the performance of the written part.

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

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Natural capital and environmental quality" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development