The Economics of Global Climate Change

by Jonathan M. Harris, Brian Roach and Anne-Marie Codur

This module, based on chapters 12 and 13 of Harris and Roach’s textbook, Environmental and Natural Resource Economics: A Contemporary Approach, discusses the scientific evidence on climate change, including recent projections on temperature and sea-level rise. It then evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of economic analysis of the issue, including discussion of valuation of environmental damages, carbon taxes, tradable permits and current policy issues. It has been updated to include the latest science and policy developments, including the 2013/2014 reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the 2015 Paris Agreement and new information on carbon storage in soils and forests.

This 67-page module is suitable for several weeks of class time. 

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