New Seminar Climate Economics
Climate change is among the most pressing challenges of the 21st century. The complexity of climate policy arises from its deep interconnections with science, economics, ethics, and politics. As governments debate ambitious policies—especially in Europe and Germany—on how to decarbonize energy systems, it is crucial to recognize that climate change is a global phenomenon with local, national, and intergenerational consequences. It raises not only technical and economic questions, but also fundamental issues of fairness and political feasibility.
This seminar investigates the economics of climate change with a focus on how economic concepts, models, and controversies shape climate policy. We will explore how economists estimate the damages of climate change and the social cost of carbon, assess the merits and drawbacks of carbon pricing, and examine the distributional effects of these policies within and across countries. We will also engage with broader debates such as green growth versus degrowth, the employment effects of climate policy, and the economic and political feasibility of technologies like geoengineering and carbon capture. The seminar will be interactive and discussion oriented. While critical examination of the scientific literature is at the core, we will also engage with media and policy debates.
The seminar language (including seminar paper, presentation, and discussions) will be English.
The seminar will take place as a block seminar and in-person at University Wuppertal.
Registration: To register, please send an email by September 9, 2025, to sievert@rwi-essen.de. Please also send your three preferences from the list of topics ordered by priority. Topics will be assigned during the first meeting on October 27th.
