PLCY 829 - ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

This course has 3 broad objectives:

• To provide a clear understanding of the rationale underpinning the recommendation for a greater use of market-based instruments for environmental protection
• To examine a number of applications where market-based instruments and other policy instruments have been implemented throughout the world
• To examine policy framework towards greening growth

Principle 16 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (Earth Summit, Rio, 1992) states that “National authorities should endeavor to promote the internalization of environmental costs and the use of economic instruments, taking into account the approach that the polluter should, in general, bear the cost of pollution, with due regard to the public interest and without distorting international trade and investment.”

Ten years later at the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg South Africa, the WSSD Plan of Implementation re-asserted the continuing needs to promote the increasing use of economic instruments, but implicitly recognized that economic instruments alone would not be sufficient to prevent a further degradation of environmental quality and depletion of natural resources:

“Article 19(b): Continue to promote the internalization of environmental costs and the use of economic instruments, taking into account the approach that the polluter should, in principle, bear the costs of pollution, with due regards to the public interest and without distorting international trade and investment.

Article 26(b): Employ the full range of policy instruments including regulation, monitoring, voluntary measures, market and information-based tools, land-use management and cost recovery of water services, without cost recovery objectives becoming a barrier to access to safe water by poor people, and adopt an integrated water basin approach.”

In this course, there will be one group assignment which will be described in class. This group assignment will be worth 40 marks.

In addition to the above, a series of “spontaneous” exercises will take place throughout the class. These exercises will be based on the material presented in class, on the list of reading distributed, and on articles from newspapers or magazines distributed as appropriate. While the number of such exercises is currently unknown, in aggregate these will be worth 60 marks.

The course will address a range of topics including, Economic valuation of environmental goods and services, methodologies, market and non-market based approaches, principles and instruments for environmental protection, pollution control, climate change and adaptation.