2008 Chevening Fellowships
Course Title
The Economics of Climate Change
Context1
Climate Security
Course Provider
The University of Cambridge Programme for Industry (CPI)
Course Director
Polly Courtice, Director CPI
Course Dates
Monday 14 January to Friday 4 April 2008
Target Audience
Officials and economists from Ministries of Economics,
Planning, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Energy, Agriculture,
Development, Industry and Trade, Science and Technology
& Environment. Private Sector, Trade associations, NGOs
and think tanks.
Nomination Window
6 June 2007 to 18 July 2007
Selection Panel
23 August 2007
Objective
Fellows will understand the economic case of moving to a low-carbon global economy,
focusing on the medium to long-term perspective, and drawing implications for the
timescales for action, and the choice of policies and institutions.
Outline
The course will present the economics of climate change in a way that is accessible and
relevant to policy-makers’ interests, building on Sir Nicholas Stern’s review of the
economics of climate change. The economic analysis in this course will be
comprehensive, deal with long time horizons, have the economics of risk and
uncertainty at centre stage and will examine the possibility of major, non-marginal
change.
The course will examine the evidence on:

1
the economic, social and environmental consequences of climate change in both
developed and developing countries, taking into account the risks of increased
climate volatility and major irreversible impacts, as well as possible actions to adapt
to the changing climate and the costs associated with them. This will be based on
the latest scientific evidence (the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s
Fourth Assessment Report) of the links between concentrations of greenhouse
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For use in Financial Year 2007-08
gases in the atmosphere, the probability of different levels of global average
temperature change, and the physical impacts expected for each level;

the costs and benefits of actions to reduce the net global balance of greenhouse gas
emissions from energy use and other sources, including the role of land-use
changes and forestry, taking into account the potential impact of technological
advances on future costs; and

the impact and effectiveness of national and international policies and measures in
reducing net emissions in a cost-effective way and promoting a dynamic, equitable
and sustainable global economy, including distributional effects and impacts on
incentives for investment in cleaner technologies. The course will concentrate on
these key policy elements: carbon pricing, through tax, trading or regulation; policies
to support the development; and deployment of low-carbon technologies and the
removal of barriers to behavioural change.

the implications for energy demand and emissions of the prospects for economic
growth over the coming decades, including the composition and energy intensity of
growth in developed and developing countries;

the economics of international collective action, including developing a shared
understanding of the long-term goals for climate policy, building effective institutions
for co-operation and working to build trust with others.
The University of Cambridge Programme for Industry
The course will be delivered by the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry
(CPI) with the support of Wolfson College, Cambridge, the Global Commons Institute,
the Tyndall Centre, Chatham House (Royal Institute for International Affairs), and the
Centre for Sustainable Development in the Department of Engineering at Cambridge.
CPI is a department of the University of Cambridge, which aims to deepen leaders’
understanding of the social, environmental and economic context in which they work,
helping them to act in ways that benefit their organisations and society as a whole. In
doing so, its work supports the mission of the University, which is to contribute to
society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest
international levels of excellence.
Course Learning Objectives and Approach
The Economics of Climate Change course is a high profile, flagship fellowship
programme for future leaders, drawn from a wide range of sectors. The Course will
provide you with high quality professional development through an approach that will
help you to apply the learning upon your return to your organisation and countries.
The Course will be specifically focused on orienting you to understand and manage
complexity and being prepared to lead change in your organisations.
For use in Financial Year 2007-08
Each week of the Course will be delivered through a highly participative and interactive
learning approach. This will involve a creative mix of traditional class-room taught
sessions, using a variety of interactive teaching methods and multimedia technologies,
and complemented by learning through study tours, dialogues, group work, role plays
and personal reflection.
The taught modules are designed to provide a strong academic foundation, whilst the
group projects, study visits and extra-curricular activities will ensure that participants are
exposed to real discourse and practice within the UK and continental Europe. The
course will therefore provide extensive opportunities for networking and building
professional and social relationships via contact with high profile speakers, subject
specialists and social events, as well as via a placement and buddy relationship.
Structure
Pre-Course Preparation
In the Pre-Course phase CPI will explore the learning needs of Fellows to guide its
design of relevant group projects and frameworks for personal development plans. CPI
will also issue a limited amount of pre-course reading.
Core Course split into 3 phases
 In Part A of the core course - based in Cambridge - Fellows will be provided with a
thorough grounding in the subjects of the economics of climate change, including the
latest scientific understanding and policy frameworks, and scenarios for developed
and emerging economies. This will provide a broad yet comprehensive introduction
to the concepts and prevalent terms and definitions and offer Fellows a strong
theoretical grounding in the subjects.

Part B of the core course will focus on exposure to the UK working environment to
gain more hands-on in-depth practical knowledge, whilst having further time to
critically review the conceptual knowledge gained in part A.

Part C of the core Course will focus on the building blocks needed for implementing
action on climate change including building collective action, financing change and
policy options. Fellows will also take a module on understanding complexity and
contemporary leadership, which will draw together their thinking on this theme
throughout the Course. Based on these insights and the personal reflection
conducted throughout the Course, the final week will provide an opportunity to
synthesise learning and prepare personal objectives and action plans for return to
you organisations.
For use in Financial Year 2007-08