MS4681: Carbon Markets 101: Strategies for a Low-carbon Future

Academic Units2
Semester1
Pre-requisite(s)Nil
Co-requisite(s)Nil

Course Instructors

Course AIMS

Carbon Markets 101: Strategies for a low-carbon future aims to provide you (as a student) with a solid understanding of the fundamentals of carbon markets, as a market-based approach to cap carbon emissions, and therefore mitigate climate change. By the end of the course, you will have mastered how carbon markets function (including the different types of carbon credits and their pricing mechanism), and you will have built some precious real life skills (team work; public speaking in front of peers). Learning about the various options available to companies to reduce their carbon footprint and crafting your own opinion will be very valuable for your future career. This course is open to both graduates and undergraduates.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you (as a student) would be able to:     

  1. Evaluate Current Impact of Carbon Credits by industry and/or company.
  2. Critique Regulatory Frameworks of Carbon Credits by Region.
  3. Assess the Origins and Current Trends of Carbon Credits.
  4. Identify and appraise carbon credits projects, including economic sense, climate mitigation and co-benefits (social, biodiversity).

Course Content

  • Mechanism of carbon markets
  • Carbon pricing
  • Tools for climate action per industry and region (US, APAC, EU)

Reading and References

  • World Bank. (2022). State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2022. Washington, DC: World Bank.
  • Mercure, J.F., Pollitt , H., Edwards, N.R., Holden, P.B., Chewpreecha, U., Salas, P., Lam, A., Knobloch, F., & Vinuales,J.E. (2021). 
  • Environmental impact assessment for climate policy with the simulation-based integrated assessment model E3ME-FTT-GENIE. Nature Energy, 6(9), 776-785.
  • Rackley, S.A. (2021). Carbon pricing in the United States: The insufficiency of federal policies and necessity of stateaction. Energy Policy, 157, 112563.
  • Johansson, B., Zhu, S., & Linderholm, C. (2021). China's Emissions Trading Scheme Design: Keyissues and Implications. Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, 10(2).
  • World Bank. (2021). Carbon Pricing in East Asia and Pacific: Coverage, Challenges and the Path Ahead. World BankEast Asia and Pacific Economic Update.