This course provides an introduction to the EU and its policy on environmental protection and natural resources. After a brief recap of the basics of policy-making in the EU, students will learn about the guiding principles and developments within the EU’s environmental policy. Subsequently, the course will cover the major environmental challenges we are facing currently.

In the first part of the course (sessions 1-6), we will discuss the functioning of the European Union to be able to better understand the factors influencing European environmental policy and politics. We will also look at the European reaction to climate change and discuss the effectiveness of the main solutions to this global problem: the development of renewable sources of energy and the different ways of pricing carbon. We will also devote a special session to the EU’s role in climate negotiations.

The second part of the course (sessions 7-12) will be devoted to different forms of pollution, such as air, noise, water and soil pollution, as well as humanity’s impact on biodiversity loss. In this part of the course, we will also discuss the main prerequisites for making the European transport sector more sustainable and European cities greener and smarter. The last session will be devoted to discussing the challenges and the opportunities for the future of environmental policy.