Economics

Climate change is posing a significant challenge to world economies. This course focuses on valuing the consequences of climate change and assessing the costs of mitigation and adaptation. The efficiency of alternative policy instruments such as carbon taxes, tradable emissions permits, voluntary initiatives, and others are assessed. Existing instruments, such as carbon taxes in British Columbia and carbon credit trading on the Chicago Climate Exchange are reviewed and critiqued. The potential contribution of these instruments to the overall achievement of Kyoto Protocol targets set by various countries is examined.