This course is designed to familiarize you with environmental challenges businesses face, especially in the Latin American context, and to provide you with tools as to how to deal with those challenges. You will learn about global environmental problems and policies and about the methods corporations are employing to cope and respond.
Some of the issues with which this course deals are the following:
What is the threat posed by global climate change and other environmental problems?
To what extent can market mechanisms be relied upon to deal with these problems?
To what extent can the environment be a core competency in an organization?
What is meant by eco-efficiency?
What is sustainability?
What is the case for corporate sustainability?
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the course students will be able to:
Understand the meaning of sustainability
Explain how economists see the environment
Understand the sides of the debate on the business-environment link
Analyze win-win opportunities
Learn about cases in Costa Rica
Method of presentation:
Readings, lectures, PowerPoint presentations, videos, case studies, group works, and field trips to companies in the city and in rural communities in Costa Rica.
Readings will be analyzed and discussed in class.
Lectures by specialized professionals will cover climate change, payment for environmental services, and eco-efficiency. Lectures will be three hours long, Monday-Thursday.
PowerPoint presentations will provide information and promote discussions of the subjects.
Videos will be used to illustrate some of the elements developed in class.
Case discussion will allow students to solve problems and learn from the discussion.
Group works will create a space for discussion, brainstorming, and analysis of case studies.
Field study trips will be planned in order to promote vivid learning experiences where students will get to know initiatives and projects that exemplify the concepts discussed in class. A full day (5-8 hours) field trip will be held every Friday. Locations are subject to change due to availability.
Required work and form of assessment:
Group paper for week one (8-10 pages)= 25%
Group paper for week two (8-10 pages)= 25%
Final exam (individual)= 30%
Class participation= 20%
Active participation is expected of all students. Students should prepare for each class by completing the readings and being ready to respond to and ask questions about the reading(s) for the class. You are expected to attend each class.
content:
Week One:
Economics and the environment
Monday:
Introduction to Sustainable Development
- Sustainability: An Economist's Perspective. Solow, Robert. In Dorfman and Dorfman (Eds.). (1993). Economics of the Environment. Selected Readings. Third Edition. Norton & Company: New York, pp. 179-187.
- Case: Bridge over the Tempisque River, Costa Rica. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, C18-95-1292.0
Tuesday:
Sustainable Development and economics.
- In Turner, Pearce, and Bateman. (1993). Environmental Economics. An Elementary Introduction. Chapter 4. The John Hopkins University Press: Maryland, pp. 54-62.
- Case: Costa Rica - Introducing Water Use Charges to pay for Environmental Services. By Sarah Cordero, 2002.
Wednesday:
Sustainable development and competitiveness
- Michael E. Porter, Claas van der Linde. Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Volume 9, Issue 4 (Autumn, 1995),97-118.
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2011). Payments for ecosystem services and food security. Rome.
Thursday:
The REDD Mechanism
- Seeing REDD in the Amazon: a win for people, trees and climate. Viana, V (2009). Opinion. IIED Document can be downloaded at www.iied.org/pubs/display.php?o=17052IIED
Friday:
Field Study Trip: Rainforest Aerial Tram
Week Three:
Corporate Social Responsibility, Environmentally responsible industries
Monday:
What is CSR?
- Corporate Social Responsibility. Making Good Business Sense. WBCSD, 2000.
- Case: The Greening of Portico by Sarah Cordero.
Tuesday:
Ecoefficiency. Profiting from environmental improvement in business
- Eco-efficiency. Creating More Value with Less Impact. WBCSD, 2000.
- Case: Biofert by Sarah Cordero
Wednesday:
Beyond Compliance
- BEYOND THE BUSINESS CASE FOR CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY. In Business Strategy and the Environment 11, 130–141 (2002), Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com).
Thursday:
Ecotourism
- North American Ecotourists: Market Profile and Trip Characteristics. White, P. Sage Publications. Pp. 1-20.
Friday:
Field Study Trip: Butterfly Farm
Week Four:
Global Climate Change and the CDM
Monday:
Global Warming and the Kyoto Protocol
- A Brief Overview of Carbon Sequestration Economics and Policy
Tuesday:
What is Climate Change?
- Climate Change and Development. Gomez-Echeverri, L. editor. 2000. Published by Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, United States. Part 1, 9-27.
Wednesday:
The new view
- STERN REVIEW: The Economics of Climate Change (pp. 1-27)
Thursday:
The path to a low carbon economy
- Financing the Transformation to a Low-Carbon Economy (pp. 1-29)
Friday:
Conclusions
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Sarah Cordero is currently completing her doctorate at MIT with a focus on economic development and sustainability. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Costa Rica and a Master in Public Administration from the Kennedy School at Harvard. She served previously as Profesora Asesora of Management Consulting Practice at INCAE, one of the leading business schools in Latin America, where she also directed an INCAE- Carlson School of Management joint workshop on business and sustainability for eight years. She also served as Dean of the faculty of the Business School at the Latin American University of Science and Technology (ULACIT) in San Jose.
This course is designed to familiarize you with environmental challenges businesses face, especially in the Latin American context, and to provide you with tools as to how to deal with those challenges. You will learn about global environmental problems and policies and about the methods corporations are employing to cope and respond.
Some of the issues with which this course deals are the following:
By the end of the course students will be able to:
Readings, lectures, PowerPoint presentations, videos, case studies, group works, and field trips to companies in the city and in rural communities in Costa Rica.
Active participation is expected of all students. Students should prepare for each class by completing the readings and being ready to respond to and ask questions about the reading(s) for the class. You are expected to attend each class.
Week One:
Economics and the environment
Monday:
Introduction to Sustainable Development
- Sustainability: An Economist's Perspective. Solow, Robert. In Dorfman and Dorfman (Eds.). (1993). Economics of the Environment. Selected Readings. Third Edition. Norton & Company: New York, pp. 179-187.
- Case: Bridge over the Tempisque River, Costa Rica. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, C18-95-1292.0
Tuesday:
Sustainable Development and economics.
- In Turner, Pearce, and Bateman. (1993). Environmental Economics. An Elementary Introduction. Chapter 4. The John Hopkins University Press: Maryland, pp. 54-62.
- Case: Costa Rica - Introducing Water Use Charges to pay for Environmental Services. By Sarah Cordero, 2002.
Wednesday:
Sustainable development and competitiveness
- Michael E. Porter, Claas van der Linde. Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Volume 9, Issue 4 (Autumn, 1995),97-118.
Thursday:
Valuing the Environment
- http://www.ecosystemvaluation.org/default.htm
Friday:
Field Study Trip: Arroz Tio Pelón
Week Two:
Understanding the Environment-Competitiveness Link
Monday:
Role of the Private Sector
- Pratt, L. (2000). Rethinking the Private Sector-Environment Relationship in Latin America. IDB pp. 1-25. Document can be obtained at http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=573310
- Case: INBio/Merck Agreement: Pioneers in Sustainable Development, Published by Harvard Business School, October 23, 1992. 1-593-015
Tuesday:
The role of Ecosystems
- Business and Ecosystems. (p 1-14). WBCSD, IUCN. 2007. Document can be downloaded from: http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/business_and_ecosystems_september2007.pdf
Wednesday:
Payment for Environmental Services
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2011). Payments for ecosystem services and food security. Rome.
Thursday:
The REDD Mechanism
- Seeing REDD in the Amazon: a win for people, trees and climate. Viana, V (2009). Opinion. IIED Document can be downloaded at www.iied.org/pubs/display.php?o=17052IIED
Friday:
Field Study Trip: Rainforest Aerial Tram
Week Three:
Corporate Social Responsibility, Environmentally responsible industries
Monday:
What is CSR?
- Corporate Social Responsibility. Making Good Business Sense. WBCSD, 2000.
- Case: The Greening of Portico by Sarah Cordero.
Tuesday:
Ecoefficiency. Profiting from environmental improvement in business
- Eco-efficiency. Creating More Value with Less Impact. WBCSD, 2000.
- Case: Biofert by Sarah Cordero
Wednesday:
Beyond Compliance
- BEYOND THE BUSINESS CASE FOR CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY. In Business Strategy and the Environment 11, 130–141 (2002), Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com).
Thursday:
Ecotourism
- North American Ecotourists: Market Profile and Trip Characteristics. White, P. Sage Publications. Pp. 1-20.
Friday:
Field Study Trip: Butterfly Farm
Week Four:
Global Climate Change and the CDM
Monday:
Global Warming and the Kyoto Protocol
- A Brief Overview of Carbon Sequestration Economics and Policy
Tuesday:
What is Climate Change?
- Climate Change and Development. Gomez-Echeverri, L. editor. 2000. Published by Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, United States. Part 1, 9-27.
Wednesday:
The new view
- STERN REVIEW: The Economics of Climate Change (pp. 1-27)
Thursday:
The path to a low carbon economy
- Financing the Transformation to a Low-Carbon Economy (pp. 1-29)
Friday:
Conclusions
Sarah Cordero is currently completing her doctorate at MIT with a focus on economic development and sustainability. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Costa Rica and a Master in Public Administration from the Kennedy School at Harvard. She served previously as Profesora Asesora of Management Consulting Practice at INCAE, one of the leading business schools in Latin America, where she also directed an INCAE- Carlson School of Management joint workshop on business and sustainability for eight years. She also served as Dean of the faculty of the Business School at the Latin American University of Science and Technology (ULACIT) in San Jose.