Global climate change is the most pressing environmental problem. Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, above all CO2, play a major role in the climate changes that have already been observed and those that are to be expected. Climate Economics deals with the economic dimensions of this problem:
- The avoidance, or at least mitigation, of expected climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), for example, is an attempt to avoid greenhouse gas emissions at the lowest possible cost to the economy.
- Adapting social and economic systems to climate change. This aspect is the subject of a Research Project at the Chair of Municipal and Environmental Economics.