Undergraduate Courses

Course description

This course explores the dynamic interplay between natural resource management and global geopolitics. It examines the distribution, use, and governance of key natural resources such as water, energy, minerals, and forests, highlighting their critical role in shaping international relations, economic development, and environmental sustainability. Topics include resource scarcity, benefit-cost analysis, transboundary resource conflicts, global energy security, and the geopolitical implications of energy transitions. Through case studies, policy analysis and a thorough theoretical and empirical analysis grounded in the resource economics and environmental economics literature, students will gain insights into strategies for sustainable resource management and their implications for global stability and cooperation.

Institution

University of Orléans, France

Program

L3 Economics and Law

Prerequisites

Knowledge of macroeconomics, microeconomics, environmental and resource economics

Teaching language

English 

References

• T Tietenberg, L Lewis (2018) "Environmental and Natural Resource Economics", Routledge.

• M. Grubb et al (2013) “Planetary Economics,” Routledge available online.

• M. Jaccard (2020), The Citizen’s Guide to climate success,  CUP.

• I. Morris (2015), Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil fuels, Princeton University Press. 

• G. Pitron (2018) , La guerre des métaux rares, Les Liens qui Libèrent.

And other published papers in refereed journals.

Course structure

24 hours of lectures

15 hours of tutorials

Evaluation

Continuous hands-on exercises (50%)

• Tutorials 30%

• Presentations 20%

Final exam (50%)

Topics

• Growth and natural resources: a controversial issue

• The economics of climate change

• Climate change and energy transition

• The impact of energy transition on natural resources

• Solutions to natural resource depletion

• Environmental policy and natural resources: regulation vs economic tools  

• Environmental policy and natural resources: news tools

• The Transition from depletable to renewable resources

• The institutional curse of natural resources 

• Geopolitics of natural resources

• Introduction to critical Minerals

• Political, economic and social implications of critical minerals

Instructors

Xavier Galiegue and Chahir Zaki