Environmental and Natural Resource Economics

Overview

Environmental and natural resource economists deal every day with the most challenging problems facing mankind: global climatic change, environmental pollution, deforestation, biodiversity loss, water scarcity and food poverty, to name but a few.  

The Environmental and Natural Resource Economics programme from the University of Birmingham is unique in that it combines a solid foundation in key areas of economics, with specialized field courses.

Students receive a thorough grounding in macroeconomics, microeconomics and econometrics, alongside an in-depth knowledge of the economics and policy of environmental pollution, renewable and non-renewable resource use, as well as the interaction between globalization and environmental degradation.

In addition, we emphasise the development of the quantitative skills necessary to understand and perform empirical work in economics, with particular attention to the valuation of environmental goods in monetary terms.

During your time studying the Environmental and Natural Resource Economics MSc at Birmingham Business School, you can expect to learn about:

• global environmental pollutants and climate change,

• emissions trading schemes,

• the links between trade and the environment,

• the role of innovation and technological change policy in securing a transition to a low carbon economy

• the optimal management of fisheries and forests as well as fossil fuels and mineral resources,

• hedonic analysis and choice experiments as methods of valuing intangible goods

• how to modify national accounts to reflect resource depletion and pollution.

Careers

This programme provides rigorous training in environmental and resource economics. This will prove valuable to employers in local and national government, government agencies, environmental organisations, business and academia.

In recent years, our students have gone on to take up positions in;

• government ministries (the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, etc.)

• public and private sector companies

• international and non-governmental organisations

• consultancy firms

Some of graduates pursue further studies either in Birmingham or elsewhere, and go on to research and teaching careers in institutions of research and higher education.