Environmental Business and Politics

Thematic Structure:
The seminar is sub-divided into two sections. The first section presents the theoretical background of environmental and resource policies, concentrating on the causes of environmental problems and the characteristics of environmental goods which obstruct private market solutions and lead to permanent conflict between the goals of private actors and those of society as a whole. The solutions of these conflicts are shifted to political decision processes which, in turn, are troubled by their own structural deficiencies.
The second section is empirically oriented by taking the European Union as an example. The section will focus on the nature of environmental problems in the 21rst century; on the associated difficulties for state governments to sort out efficient instruments to solve them; and on the difficulties of coping with them on a trans-national level. Behind this background the module will try to develop options of an environmentally responsible business management.
Method:
The course will be taught as a mixture of lecture, seminar discussions and homework reading.

Lecturer:
Dr. Philipp Schepelmann
Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy