Macquarie University

Introduction to Environmental Economics - ENVS201

This unit is designed to provide students with an introductory exposure to environmental economics. In addition to dwelling on the key concepts, tools and methods used in environmental economics, the unit provides an understanding as to why it is crucial to incorporate the environment as a factor of production in our economy, what the key challenges are in doing so and how effective the available policy instruments are. Several topics such as the economics of climate change, economics of land use development and urban planning, and sustainable development will be covered in order to highlight the role environmental economics plays in addressing contemporary societal challenges. The emphasis of this unit is also on helping students develop a set of basic analytical and mathematical tools that could be used to assess and derive practical policy recommendations. The unit builds on several real case studies that provide students with a hands-on introduction to basic cost-benefit analysis (using Excel) involving future discounting and uncertainty.