午夜剧场

Specialized Subjects | Economic Policy and Environmental Economics

Today, the global environment is deteriorating at a tremendous rate. The list of serious environmental problems is endless: global warming, ozone layer depletion, air pollution, acid rain, deforestation, desertification, waste disposal, loss of biodiversity, water depletion, and more. Many of these environmental issues are, in fact, also economic issues. Environmental problems arise directly or indirectly when the amount of natural resources used in economic activities (production and consumption) becomes excessive, when discharged pollutants exceed levels that can be purified, or when forests are converted to other uses for development. In "Environmental Economics," we move beyond simply recognizing the close relationship between the economy and environmental problems. We will consider mechanisms to reduce the environmental burden, primarily by understanding the following points.

The first point is to understand the reasons why economic activities lead to environmental degradation and to identify the appropriate economic level. Learning this will enable us to consider how to maintain economic activities at this appropriate level. This forms the foundation for devising effective environmental policies. The second important topic covered in this course is environmental policy itself. We will outline the typical measures used in actual policies and learn their mechanisms. Students will gain an understanding of how different measures can be combined to propose effective environmental policies for various environmental problems.

Based on this understanding, students will learn that the economy and the environment are not in opposition but can be made compatible. We hope that you will not only learn about individual environmental problems but also come to grasp how to solve them within the context of their relationship with the economy.