IMPACTS, ADAPTATION AND MITIGATION OF CLIMATE CHANGE

This course focuses on impacts of climate change on environmental and socio-economic systems, and on the policies to address the causes and consequences of climate change. Impacts on agriculture and biodiversity, sea level rise and coastal zones, precipitations and extreme events will be presented and discussed. The course will then examine adaptation and mitigation policies, the required investments, the economic costs of these policies, their impact on economic growth and the optimal balance between mitigation and adaptation. Finally, the course will analyse international negotiations on climate change control and will present some proposals, both at the micro and macro level, to deal with one of the most important threats to the future development of our socio-economic and environmental systems.

1. Knowledge and understanding:
1.1 Understand the role of economics in addressing climate change
1.2. Compare different climate policy instruments
1.3 Understand the dynamics of international negotiations on climate change

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
2.1. Assess impacts of climate change
2.2. Apply economic instruments to mitigate climate change
2.3. Identify solutions to reduce obstacles towards international climate agreements

3. Judgment skills:
3.1. Assess pros and cons of different climate policy instruments
3.2. Understand the future of economic and energy systems taking climate and technological change into account
3.3. Evaluate the success probability of international negotiations on climate change

Basic elements of economics, mathematics and statistics. Students should also be familiar with the most important environmental problems and should follow the debate on the measures and policies to address climate change, by reading the most recent IPCC reports before lectures start.

1. The international governance of climate change policy
2. The science of climate change: how and how much did climate change?
3. Main impacts of climate change and related economic damages
4. Future scenarios of climate change impacts
5. The social and economic drivers of climate change
6. Targets to control climate change: optimal trajectories to zero-emissions
7. Governments’ policies and business strategies: international cooperation is crucial
8. Mitigation policies: domestic and International instruments to deal with climate change
9. Short term priorities: energy efficiency, renewables, storage
10. Mitigation costs. Implications for competitiveness
11. International negotiations on climate change (IPCC, COPs…)
12. Climate finance: Investments needs and financial resources
13. Technological innovation: What technical progress and innovation are needed to move quickly to zero emissions?
14. Transition costs: industry and employment
15. Best practices to deal with climate change mitigation and adaptation

Blogs
- https://www.climateforesight.eu/
- https://www.edie.net/
- https://climateactiontracker.org/
- https://www.climatewatchdata.org/
- https://www.oecd.org/climate-change/

Books:
- IPCC Sixth Assessment Report and Special Report on 1.5 degrees, both free downloadable at www.ipcc.ch
- Carlo Carraro and Alessandra Mazzai, Il clima che cambia , Il Mulino, 2015
- Anthony Giddens, La politica del cambiamento climatico, Il Saggiatore, 2015
- Scott Barrett, Carlo Carraro, Jim De Melo, Towards a Workable and Effective Climate Regime, CEPR Press 2015, freely downloadable at www.cepr.org (anche in francese per la casa editrice Economica).
- Nicholas Stern, Why Are We Waiting? The Logic, Urgency and Promise of Tackling Climate Change, MIT Press, 2014
- William D. Nordhaus, The Climate Casino: Risk, Uncertainty, and Economics for a Warming World, Yale University Press

Students may pass the exam by writing a few essays during the lecture period. Students will be asked to write 2 or 3 essays on different topics, linked to what discussed and taught in lectures or as a way to apply and deepen the contents of the lectures. They will also be asked to use a simple model to simulate different emission reduction strategies. Finally, students will work on an innovation/startup project designed to address the causes or consequences of climate change. These activities will be assessed and replace the final exam.

written and oral

A. scores in the 18-22 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- sufficient knowledge and ability to understand applied in reference to the program;
- limited ability to collect and/or interpret data, formulating independent judgments;
- sufficient communication skills, especially in relation to the use of specific language that pertains to the
economic functioning of public services;
B. scores in the 23-26 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- fair knowledge and ability to understand applied in reference to the program;
- fair ability to collect and/or interpret data, formulating independent judgments;
- fair communication skills, especially in relation to the use of specific language that pertains to the
economic functioning of public services;
C. scores in the 27-30 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- good or excellent knowledge and ability to understand applied in reference to the program;
- good or excellent ability to collect and/or interpret data, formulating independent judgments;
- fully appropriate communication skills, especially in relation to the use of specific language that
pertains to the economic functioning of public services.
D. honors will be awarded in the presence of knowledge and understanding applied in reference to the
program, judgment and communication skills, excellent.

Lectures and workgroups. Students will be asked to prepare short essays that will be discussed in class. Much of the learning process should take place before and during the course, to make lectures more participated and interesting, and to give students the capacity to use and apply the acquired knowledge.

Italian

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Climate change and energy" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development