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PP5194 

NATURAL DISASTERS, ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE
   2017/2018, Semester 2
   Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (Lee Kuan Yew School Of Public Policy)
Modular Credits: 4
  Tags: --

Learning Outcomes

TopThis module is designed to provide students with a knowledge of natural disasters and climate change. It begins by establishing a link between climate-related disasters and human activity. It then considers the joint challenges of disaster risk reduction and management, and provides lessons for policy and investments. The module likewise examines the issue of climate change as an externality that can be addressed through policy tools geared towards mitigation and adaptation.

Prerequisites

TopBasic economics

Syllabus

TopPP5194
 
NATURAL DISASTERS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
 
Elective
2017/2018 Semester 2
 
 
Instructor:                                                        Dr. Vinod Thomas
Email:                                                              vndthomas49@gmail.com
Office:                                                              OTH Wing A, #03-02K
Consultation Hours:                                        Tuesday 10 am to 1 pm
Class Hours:                                                   Tuesday 2 pm to 5 pm
Venue:                                                             MM Seminar Room 2-3
Pedagogical and learning support:                 TBD
 
Required reading:
 Perman, R., Ma, Y., McGilvray, J. and Common, M. 2003. Natural resource and Environmental economics. 3rd Edition. Pearson Education.
 
Thomas, V. 2017. Climate Change and Natural Disasters: Transforming Economies and Policies for a Sustainable Future. New Jersey, USA: Transaction Publishers.
 
Tietenberg, T and Lewis, L. 2012. Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. 9th Edition. New Jersey, USA: Pearson Education.
 
World Bank. 2010. World Development Report 1992: Development and Climate Change. New York: Oxford University Press. © World Bank. 
           https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/4387
 
Course Description
 This module is designed to provide students with a practical and policy knowledge of natural disasters and climate change. It begins by establishing a link between climate-related disasters and human activity. It then considers the joint challenges of disaster risk reduction and management, and provides lessons for policy and investments. The module likewise examines the issue of climate change as an externality that can be addressed through policy tools geared towards mitigation and adaptation.
 
The themes of the course are reflected in the following questions:
 
1. How do climate-related disasters affect people and the planet?
2. How are natural disasters, climate change, and human activity related?
3. What are the drivers of disaster risk, and how can it be mitigated?
4. What instruments can policymakers use to combat climate change?
5. What are the strengths, weaknesses, and trade-offs associated with the various
     instruments?
6. How are countries dealing with disasters and climate change, and what can
    we learn from their experiences?
7. What are the challenges or constraints faced by governments, businesses and households in dealing with these issues?
 
Teaching philosophy and format
 This module uses a lecture-based approach, supplemented by class discussions and case studies. Each session will begin with an introduction of key concepts and theories to be followed by real world applications. A combination of class formats will be adopted, including lectures, discussions on required readings, and group exercises or case studies. Students will be expected to familiarize themselves with the readings before class, and should be prepared to engage in a discussion with the instructor.
 
We will rely on a variety of sources to supplement the lectures. A selection of books, publications, and opinion and news articles will be used to enhance your understanding of the key issues and how they are currently being addressed. In addition, we will use rigorous empirical methods to evaluate existing and proposed programs, as well as to design innovative policy solutions.
 
There will be one or two guest lectures matching the theme of the particular week.
 
The course will encourage you to use both qualitative and quantitative tools as best suited to the problems, but econometrics or mathematical methods or impact evaluation are not pre-requisites for taking this course.
 
Working in groups
 You will be asked to form small groups (around 3-5 students per group depending on the class size) at the beginning of the semester. You are expected to work with your fellow team members in reviewing the concepts and theories presented in class, analyzing case studies, and preparing for the final exam at the end of the module.
  
Core learning objectives
 You will understand:
  • The link between natural disasters and anthropogenic climate change
  • How disaster risk is a function not only of the hazards themselves, but also of communities’ exposure and vulnerability
  • The challenges faced by governments, policymakers, and experts in dealing with climate-related disasters 

 You will know:
  • The stages of the disaster management cycle, and what comprises each stage
  • The various policy instruments that can be used to combat climate change and its effects
  • How countries, especially those in Asia Pacific, are managing disasters and climate change
 
Skills
 You will be able to:
  • Know the basic principles to quantify the impact of a natural disaster
  • Assess the effectivity of climate change policies or programs
  • Make recommendations on the proper instruments that governments, businesses and households can use to address disaster risk and climate change
  • Prepare you to play a professional role in disaster risk reduction
  
Assessment
 1. Class participation and group presentations (25%). You will be individually assessed in terms of your contribution to the discussions on the cases, problems and readings, group exercises, and overall class dynamics. Because this module takes a student-centered approach to learning, class participation is a component of your final grade.  There will be three group presentations over the course of the semester.
 
2. Individual paper and presentation in class (40%). The subjects covered are highly policy oriented and practical in their applications.  One part of the learning is preparing a paper with practical applications on any segment of the course. You would be oriented to what matters in these written assignment and its presentation. There will be a hard deadline for paper submission.
 
3. Examination (35%) The examination will cover the topics in the syllabus. The format will be a blend of concepts and applications, that is, both theoretical and applied. It will be an open book exam that can be done over a day, but with a hard deadline. The best way to prepare for the exam is to stay on track throughout the semester with the course material. If a student cannot take the exam for unavoidable reasons, an alternative exam would be arranged.
 
 About the instructor
 Dr Vinod Thomas received a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago and has previously taught at Vassar College, the University of Sao Paulo and been a guest lecturer at Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, among others. He has addressed various global fora in all regions, including World Economic Forum, European Evaluation Association, Skoll Foundation, United Nations Agencies; and various Universities. His professional work has spanned Climate Change; Development economics; Trade Policy; Macroeconomics; Macro-sectoral links; Environmental Policy; Agricultural Policy; Urban Economics; Income Distribution; Poverty Measures; Asian experience; Latin American experience.
 
He has written 15 books, among them: Climate Change and Natural Disasters. Transaction Publishers: Rutgers, 2017; Multilateral Banks and the Development Process: Vital Links in the Results Chain, with Xubei Luo. Transaction Publishers. 2012; From Inside Brazil: Development in a Land of Contrasts, Stanford University Press, 2006 (English and Portuguese); The Quality of Growth, with co-authors.  Oxford University Press, 2000; The Challenge of Development, World Development Report 1991, Oxford University Press, 1991; Best Practices in Trade Policy Reform, with J. Nash, Oxford University Press, 1991; and Agricultural Price Policies and the Developing Countries, with G.S. Tolley and C.M. Wong, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982.  He has likewise authored numerous peer reviewed journal articles and opinion pieces.
 
Dr Thomas was Director-General of Independent Evaluation at Asian Development Bank (2011-2016) and previously Director-General and Senior Vice President of Independent Evaluation at the World Bank Group (2005 – 2011). Prior to this, he held various positions at the World Bank including as Country Director, Brazil (2001 – 2005), Vice President, World Bank Institute (2000 – 2001); Chief Economist, Asia Region (1991 – 1994), and Staff Director, World Development Report 1991 (1990 – 1991). Recently he has been Special Adviser to the President, Chair, Evaluation Cooperation Group; consultant to the UN on evaluation; Asian Institute of Management, member of newly formed Board of Odebrecht; Advisor, Results for Development; Advisor, Western Michigan University, Economics; Advisor to the World Bank’s Board of Directors; Advisor, Emerging Markets Forum; and Member of the Board for several journals.
 
He enjoys working with others and sharing analytical and practical experiences in ways that improve our understanding and applications. With a keen eye on analytical and quantitative rigor, he also stresses the qualitative side and the critical role of inter-disciplinary interactions. He values working with others on collaborative projects, like a co-authored book on Evaluation Methods and Good Practices he is currently involved at LKY. He also hopes to contribute to ramping up a high impact program at LKY on climate change, environment and natural resources. 
 
 Weekly Schedule
  
Week 1: Tuesday, 16 January 2-5 pm
Overview
 
Week 2: Tuesday, 23 January 2-5 pm
Sources and impacts of natural disasters
Readings:
Asian Development Bank. 2013. The Rise of Natural Disasters in Asia and the Pacific. Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Asian Development Bank.
CRED-UNISDR. 2015. The Human Cost of Weather-related Disasters 1995-2015.
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. 2003. Handbook for Estimating the Socio-economic and Environmental Effects of Disasters. Washington, DC: World Bank. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/649811468048531747/Main-report
Thomas, V. 2017. Chapters 2 and 3 in Climate Change and Natural Disasters: Transforming Economies and Policies for a Sustainable Future. New Jersey, USA: Transaction Publishers.
 
Central Problems:
 How do climate-related disasters affect people and the planet? How are natural disasters, climate change, and human activity related? How can the impact of disasters be quantified?
 
Week 3: Tuesday, 30 January 2-5 pm
Understanding disaster risk and its drivers
Readings:
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2012. Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation. New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.
ESCAP-UNISDR. 2012. Reducing Vulnerability and Exposure to Disasters. Bangkok, Thailand: United Nations.
Central problem:
What are the drivers of disaster risk and how can it be mitigated?
 
Week 4: Tuesday, 6 February 2-5 pm
Elements of disaster risk management
Readings:
ESCAP-UNISDR. 2012. Reducing Vulnerability and Exposure to Disasters. Bangkok, Thailand: United Nations.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2012. Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation. New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.
Lindell, M. 2013. Recovery and Reconstruction after Disaster. In Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards (pp. 812-824). Springer.
Thomas, V. 2017. Chapter 5 in Climate Change and Natural Disasters: Transforming Economies and Policies for a Sustainable Future. New Jersey, USA: Transaction Publishers.
 
Central problem:
How can disaster risk be managed?
  
Week 5: Tuesday, 13 February 2-5 pm
*Guest speaker (Caroline Brassard) and group presentations
 
Week 6: Tuesday, Tuesday, 20 February 2-5 pm
Adapting to climate change
Readings:
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2014. Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Geneva, Switzerland: IPCC.
Stern, N. H. 2007. Chapters 18-20 in The economics of climate change: The Stern Review. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Thomas, V. 2017. Chapter 5 in Climate Change and Natural Disasters: Transforming Economies and Policies for a Sustainable Future. New Jersey, USA: Transaction Publishers.
World Bank. 2010. Chapter 2 and 3.   World Development Report 1992: Development and Climate Change. New York: Oxford University Press. © World Bank.
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/4387
 
Central problem:
How can governments, businesses, and households adapt to climate change?
  
Recess Week: February 26 – March 2, 2018
  
Week 7: Tuesday, 6 March 2-5 pm
Mitigating the impacts of climate change
Readings:
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2007. Climate Change 2007: Mitigation. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.
Stern, N. H. 2007. Chapters 14-17 in The economics of climate change: The Stern Review. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Thomas, V. 2017. Chapter 4 in Climate Change and Natural Disasters: Transforming Economies and Policies for a Sustainable Future. New Jersey, USA: Transaction Publishers.
World Bank. 2010. Chapter2 3 and 4. World Development Report 1992: Development and Climate Change. New York: Oxford University Press. © World Bank.
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/4387
 
Central problem:
How can the effects of climate change be mitigated?
  
Week 8: Tuesday, 13 March 2-5 pm
*Guest speaker (Abhas Jha) and group presentations
Financing climate policies and investments
Readings:
Buchner, B., Trabacchi, C., Mazza, F., Abramskiehn, D. and Wang, D. 2015. Global Landscape of Climate Finance. Climate Policy Initiative.
Glemarec, Y. 2011. Catalyzing Climate Finance: A Guidebook on Policy and Financing Options to Support Green, Low-Emission and Climate-Resilient Development. New York, USA: United Nations Development Programme.
Stern, N. H. 2007. Chapter 23 in The economics of climate change: The Stern Review. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Thomas, V. 2017. Chapter 6 in Climate Change and Natural Disasters: Transforming Economies and Policies for a Sustainable Future. New Jersey, USA: Transaction Publishers.
 
Central problem:
What are the options for financing of climate policies?
  
Week 9: Tuesday, 20 March 2-5 pm
*Term paper presentations
Carbon emissions and negative externalities
Readings:
Perman, R., Ma, Y., McGilvray, J. and Common, M. 2003. Chapter 5 in Natural resource and environmental economics. 3rd Edition. Pearson Education.
Tietenberg, T and Lewis, L. 2012. Chapter 2 in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. 9th Edition. New Jersey, USA: Pearson Education.
 
Central problems:
 What are the economic implications of externalities such as emissions? How can these be internalized?
  
Week 10: Tuesday, 27 March 2-5 pm
*Guest speaker (Naomi Aoki) & term paper presentations
Climate change instruments
Readings:
Hardin, G. 1968. The Tragedy of the Commons. Science 162 (3859): pp. 1243-1248.
Soroos, M. 1995. Managing the Atmosphere as a Global Commons. Paper prepared for presentation at the Fifth Annual Common Property Conference of International Association for the Study of Common Property, Norway, May 24-28.
Tietenberg, T and Lewis, L. 2012. Chapter 13 in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. 9th Edition. New Jersey, USA: Pearson Education.
 Wade, R. 1987. The management of common property resources: collective action as an alternative to privatisation or state regulation. Cambridge Journal of Economics 11 pp. 95-106.
 
Central problem:
 How can theories of collective action be used to manage common pool resources such as the atmosphere?
  
Individual paper due: Monday, 2 April
  
Week 11: Tuesday, 3 April 2-5 pm
Natural and common pool resources
Readings:
Patil, P.G. 2012. Moving beyond GDP: how to factor natural capital into economic decision making. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Perman, R., Ma, Y., McGilvray, J. and Common, M. 2003. Chapter 12 in Natural resource and environmental economics. 3rd Edition. Pearson Education.
Tietenberg, T and Lewis, L. 2012. Chapter 4 in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. 9th Edition. New Jersey, USA: Pearson Education.
 
Central problem:
 What are the approaches to valuing natural resources?
  
Week 12: Tuesday, 10 April 2-5 pm
Natural capital and the concept of sustainability
Readings:
Perman, R., Ma, Y., McGilvray, J. and Common, M. 2003. Chapter 2 and 4 in Natural resource and environmental economics. 3rd Edition. Pearson Education.
Thomas V. et al, 2000. Chapter 4 in The Quality of Growth. New York, USA: Oxford
University Press.
Tietenberg, T and Lewis, L. 2012. Chapter 20 in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. 9th Edition. New Jersey, USA: Pearson Education.
 World Bank. 1992. Chapters 1, 2.  World Development Report 1992: Development and the Environment. New York: Oxford University Press. © World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/5975 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
 
Central problem:
 How can natural capital be used in a sustainable manner?
 
 
*Note: Special topics covered throughout the course
Special topics: Technologies, financing and multilateral banks
Readings:
Asian Development Bank. 2014. Technologies to Support Climate Change Adaptation in Developing Asia. Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Asian Development Bank.
United Nations. 2008. Climate change: Technology Development and Technology Transfer.  Background paper for the Beijing High-level Conference on Climate Change.
World Bank. 2010. Chapter 7. World Development Report 1992: Development and Climate Change. New York: Oxford University Press. © World Bank.
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/4387
 World Bank. 1992. Chapters 8, 9. World Development Report 1992: Development and the Environment. New York: Oxford University Press. © World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/5975 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
World Bank. 2010. Chapter 6. World Development Report 1992: Development and Climate Change. New York: Oxford University Press. © World Bank.
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/4387
 
Central problems:
 What is the role of technology in climate change mitigation and adaptation? How can international banking and finance best help?
 
Reading Week: April 21 - 27 April 2018
Take home, open book exam: April 18
http://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/our-people/our-faculty/vinod-thomas



 

Workload

Top2-1-0-3-4

Workload Components : A-B-C-D-E
A: no. of lecture hours per week
B: no. of tutorial hours per week
C: no. of lab hours per week
D: no. of hours for projects, assignments, fieldwork etc per week
E: no. of hours for preparatory work by a student per week

About the lecturer

Tophttps://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/our-people/our-faculty/faculty-profile/vinod-thomas

Term Paper Guidance

Top

Guidance on the Term Paper

 

1.       The paper should relate directly to the topics covered in our course PP5194 and apply the concepts and analysis we covered.

 

2.       It should be no longer than 10 pp excluding graphs and tables and 15 pp including such supporting material.  You are welcome to use quantitative techniques, although their use is not a requirement.

 

3.       You can follow NUS guidelines for papers in their format and style.  You can use a font size of 11 and spacing of 1.5.

 

4.       Within the paper, there needs to be a brief survey of what has been done on the subject and a literature review, but this segment should be no longer than one third of the paper.

 

5.       Another one-third length or so needs to be on what you found in your research or investigation in terms of findings and conclusions o the chosen subject.

 

6.       The remaining one third or so would be on the implications drawn, actions needed to be taken and recommendations if relevant.

 

7.       The topic proposals you have presented in class are fine.  You can develop them at a project level, or sector level, or country level, or regional level or global level.

 

8.       You could write the paper as intended for publication in a professional journal.  In that sense, it would be more important to have objectivity and rigor rather than opinions and hunches.

 

9.       The breadth of coverage need not be wide, in fact there may be an advantage to keeping a sharp focus so you are able to draw out some conclusions within the short time available for this paper.

 

10.   There would be a premium on problem solving as compared to describing the problem.

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