The Economics of Sustainability

The Economics of Sustainability --- The topic of corporate sustainability remains controversial. Some argue that sustainability is a property of whole systems, such as an ecosystem or the Earth as a whole, not of individual organizations. What, if anything, does it mean to say that a company is sustainable? Academic research on the topic of corporations and sustainability has seen rapid growth since the first Rio Earth Summit. This course will explore that body of knowledge, placing it within the larger context of environmental economics, and the economics of sustainability more broadly. The goals of the course are three-fold: (1) To give students a solid foundation in the economics of the environment and sustainability; (2) to apply economic fundamentals to crucial sustainability issues of climate change and energy policy; and (3) to examine critically the business case for sustainability, and the place of sustainability within corporate strategy.