Course Name Year Term Period Faculty / Graduate School All Instructors Credits
16795:IR18‐FE201 Special Lecture (Core Related Course) (RE) § 16796:IR-EDS201 Special Lecture (Core Related Course) (RE) § 17819:RUIR-2518 Special Lecture (GCG)(RE) 2024 Fall Mon3 College　Of　International　Relations HAYASHI DAISUKE 2

Campus

KIC

Class Venue

YOYOKAN　YY202

Language

English

Course Outline and Method

   Since the 1960s, increasing concerns about environmental problems have given rise to a rapidly growing body of environmental policy and sustainable development literature. Environmental policy now directly and indirectly affects the behavior and decisions of governments, firms, non-government organizations, and individuals. In the face of global environmental problems driven by expanding economic activities, such as climate change, ozone depletion, biodiversity loss, air and water pollution, the paradigm of sustainable development has been proposed as the way forward.
   What is sustainable development? Are economic growth and environmental sustainability compatible? What policy instruments are available in tackling environmental problems? This course aims to introduce and debate these questions, drawing insights from environmental economics and political science. The lectures provide theoretical frameworks, which should be applied in student presentations on case studies of concrete environmental problems. Students’ performance will be evaluated based on two case presentations, a final report, and informed class participation. Feedback on the assignments will be provided in the class or on manaba+R.

Student Attainment Objectives

   Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
• understand how the concept of sustainable development is framed by different actors;
• explain the causes and consequences of major environmental problems; and
• apply environmental policy instruments to specific environmental problems.

Recommended Preparatory Course

   Students must be willing to acquire basic knowledge of microeconomics, though prior exposure to the subject is not required. The lecture briefly reviews the microeconomics foundations.

Course Schedule

Lecture/Instructor（When there are multiple instructors) Theme
Keyword, References and Supplementary Information
1

Worldviews of environmental change

Global environmental change, market liberals, institutionalists, bio-environmentalists, social greens

2

A history of global environmental change

Economy-environment nexus, Silent Spring, Bruntland Report, Earth Summit, Sustainable Development Goals

3

Economic efficiency and environmental protection

Economic efficiency, net benefits, marginal benefit/ cost, equimarginal rule, dynamic efficiency, discounting

4

The benefits and costs of environmental protection; [Registration for case presentations]

Benefit-cost analysis, willingness to pay/ accept, expressed/ revealed preference methods, Pareto efficiency

5

How markets work and fail in the environmental realm

Demand and supply, market equilibrium, surplus, externality, market failure, the tragedy of the commons, open access

6

Managing natural resources

Renewable vs. non-renewable resources, the Hotelling Rule, carrying capacity, the maximum sustainable yield

7

[Case presentation] Benefit-cost analysis; managing natural resources

(1) Wild goose conservation in Scotland, (2) Overfishing in South and Southeast Asia

8

Command and control, taxes and subsidies

Quantity control vs. price control, Pigovian tax, Baumol-Oates tax, marginal abatement costs, equimarginal rule

9

[Case presentation] Command and control, taxes and subsidies

(1) Command-and-control in Japan and China, (2) Renewable energy policies in Europe and Latin America

10

Emissions trading

Coase theorem, transaction costs, property rights, tradable permits, cap-and-trade, baseline-and-credit

11

[Case presentation] Emissions trading; [Announcement of the final report questions]

(1) EU emissions trading system, (2) China’s emissions trading system

12

Governing the commons

Common-pool resources (CPR), institutional design for CPR management, local vs. global commons

13

Global environmental governance

U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto protocol, Clean Development Mechanism, Paris agreement

14

[Case presentation] Governing the commons; global environmental governance

(1) Communal forest management in Japan, (2) Climate and ozone layer governance

15

Sustainability and economic growth

The limits to growth, weak vs. strong sustainability, intergenerational vs. intragenerational equity

Class Format

   In principle, all the classes will be conducted face-to-face.

Recommendations for Private Study

   Students are expected to complete all compulsory readings prior to each class. Lectures will not merely summarize the readings, but will use them as a basis for further discussion.

Grade Evaluation Method

Kind Percentage Grading Criteria etc.
Final Examination (Written) 0

Report Examination
(A report to be submitted by the unified deadline)		 0

Exams and/or Reports other than those stated above, and Continuous Assessment　
(Evaluation of Everyday Performance in Class)		 100

Case presentations (twice): 40%
Final report: 50%
Informed class participation: 10%
("Informed" means you read the assigned materials in advance and engage in class discussions.)
Note: Students missing five or more classes will be given a grade of “F.”

Grade Evaluation Method （Note）

Advice to Students on Study and Research Methods

   The instructor strives to provide reasonable accommodation to differently-abled students. If this applies to you, please get in touch with the instructor at the semester beginning.
   Students committing academic misconduct will face disciplinary actions according to the Ritsumeikan University Student Disciplinary Regulations. Before preparing your assignments, carefully read the IR NAVI “Academic dishonesty (plagiarism)”: https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/ir/ir-navi/language/language08.html/.
   In this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not encouraged. Students may use AI only to get preliminary ideas for research, but they are prohibited from directly coping or using information generated by AI.

Textbooks

Title Author Publisher ISBN Code Comment
Markets and the Environment, 2nd ed. Keohane, N.O. and Olmstead, S.M. Island Press 978-1610916073 Published in 2016. An accessible textbook on environmental and natural resource economics. The book will be used throughout the course. An e-book is available on the library’s website.

Textbooks （Frequency of Use, Note）

Reference Books

Reference Books （Frequency of Use, Note）

Web Pages for Reference

How to Communicate with the Instructor In and Out of Class(Including Instructor Contact Information)

Learning Management System （manaba+R）,Talk with Students

Other Comments

【科目ナンバリング・カリキュラムマップはこちらから/Click here to see the Curriculum-Map and Course-Numbering】
URL:http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp//students/pathways-future/course/curriculum.html