Climate Change and Public Policy

Uncover the complexities of climate change

Climate change presents the most profound challenge to have confronted human social, political, and economic systems.

On this four-week course, you’ll explore the fundamentals of climate change. You’ll focus on the interaction between science, economics, and public policy, providing an introduction to environmentalism from the private sector.

Explore the common policy proposals to fight climate change

You’ll begin by focusing on China and the US, examining their climate policies and what changes they need to make to reduce their climate impact.

Then, you’ll look at a range of climate policy ideas, from command and control to carbon taxes. You’ll discuss the opportunities and challenges of each policy, allowing you to come to your own conclusion of which, if any, is the better option.

Discover innovative climate change solutions such as carbon capture and geoengineering

Energy production is the largest driver of climate change. As energy demand grows, the world needs to shift to cleaner energy sources and technological innovations.

This course will take you through a variety of clean energy solutions, such as nuclear, wind, solar, and natural gas. You’ll also explore the human innovations that are leading the fight against climate change, including geoengineering.

Learn from climate policy experts at the Adam Smith Center and the IER

This course has been designed and created by the Adam Smith Center and Jordan McGillis, Deputy Director of Policy at the Institute for Energy Research (IER).

McGillis has written extensively on energy policy, including IER’s 2019 White Paper on carbon taxes, which makes him well-positioned to provide you with a holistic and incisive examination of the causes, environmental effects, and policy implications of climate change.

This course is designed for anyone with an interest in climate change or public policy. It will be especially useful for students pursuing economics, political science, public policy, or sociology, and for professionals working in environmental and resources sectors.

• Climate Change and Public Policy Basics
• Course Introduction
• Climate Change Basics
• Public Policy Basics
• Regional Focus: China
• Regional Focus: United States of America
• End of Week 1
• Importance of Markets
• Policy Ideas: Command and Control
• Policy Ideas: Free Markets
• Policy Ideas: Carbon Taxes
• End of Week 2
• Energy Mix and Solutions
• Energy Mix
• Energy Solutions: Nuclear
• Energy Solutions: Wind and Solar
• Energy Solutions: Natural Gas
• Energy Efficiency
• Electric Vehicles
• Carbon Capture and Storage
• End of Week 3
• Human Creativity and Technological Innovation
• Importance of Human Innovation
• Entrepreneurship
• Geoengineering
• The Importance of Local Decentralisation
• End of Week 4