Vorlesung/Seminar: Climate Policy and Instruments (C1a) (74033)

WS 2025/2026
16.01.2026-18.01.2026 (mehrtägig), S 25 (GEO II) (tbc)

Jasper Meya

L/S,  2 ECTS

Preliminary meeting: date tbc, online

Block course from 16 January 2026 to 18 January 2026, in S 25 (GEO II) (tbc), every day from 9 am to 6 pm

Learning Objectives: After attending the lecture (i), students are familiar with various instruments for achieving climate policy goals, (ii) can analyze them in terms of efficiency, distribution effect and uncertainties, and (iii) are able to critically discuss the advantages and disadvantages of real-world political instruments along economic criteria.

The course will introduce key concepts such as the “tragedy of the commons” and “collective action problems”, and discuss key academic developments in the understanding of the management of global commons. The course will ensure that the students develop a firm grasp of the fundamental dynamic of climate change negotiations while introducing the main legal instruments that form the backbone of the climate regime. Students will be able to critically assess how the Paris Agreement can mobilize action.

Course Content: In this part of the module, economic criteria for determining efficient and fair climate policy goals are developed. Then climate policy instruments are dealt with (e.g. regulatory policy; C02 tax; emissions trading) and instrument selection is discussed with imperfect information. In interactive phases, economic concepts are deepened along with current case studies, such as the German coal phase-out, national CO2 pricing (climate package) or European emissions trading (EU ETS).