marine, agriculture, renewable energy, environmental economics, leadereship, MSc (Global Environmental Economics)—full-time and part-time

Course Overview

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Do you want to contribute to address major environmental challenges? Do you have an interest in economics? Then this course is for you! It will help you to make a career out of your interests.

Many of the greatest challenges facing societies around the world today relate to environmental concerns—from climate change to food and energy security, the need to achieve sustainable and resilient forms of economic development, sustainable use of natural resources, pollution or biodiversity loss. The discipline of environmental economics is central to our understanding of these challenges and to the framing and evaluation of appropriate policy responses.

This course will equip students with the skills to address these challenges through a unique combination of theoretical and applied subjects. These are delivered through small group teaching by academics as well as industry and policy experts. This guarantees a practical focus that is further strengthened through work placements in related companies or research institutes in Ireland or abroad, including for example with the UN Climate Change and Universities Partnership Programme.

The programme is specifically targeted to provide students with employability skills that are relevant to shape and influence future public policy, conduct environmental evaluations, lead research projects, work in a business or consultancy role, with international development and aid agencies or continue education through further academic study.

The aims of the MSc in Global Environmental Economics are to equip graduates with the following skills:

1. Understand and analyse global environmental issues from an economic perspective
2. Critically evaluate and inform future public policy in relation to the environment
3. Advanced knowledge of economic methods used to analyse environmental problems
4. Understand global interlinkages of environmental problems and how these differ around the world
5. Effective communication skills and be proficient with various media

Environmental Economics at the University of Galway

The MSc Global Environmental Economics is hosted by the Discipline of Economics at the University of Galway, part of the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics, which is in turn one of three Schools in the College of Business, Public Policy and Law.

Throughout the programme you will mainly be engaged with academic staff of the Economics discipline. You can find staff profiles and contact details at this link: Economics Team Contact Details

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Normally a H2.1 degree (NFQ Level 8 or equivalent) with Economics. However, candidates with a significantly high H2.2 honours degree and who have achieved a 2.1 average in relevant Economics modules in a business degree, will also be considered. Students without an economic background are also encouraged to apply and will be accepted subject to successful completion of an online preparatory Economics course. These students are advised to get in touch with the course coordinator as early as possible for more details. IELTS score of 6.5 or equivalent, if applicable.

Academic entry requirements standardised per country here.

English language requirements here.

Future employment

Graduates have found employment in international development and aid agencies, the European Commission, utility companies, government departments, investment banks, corporate environmental investment funds, United Nations organisations, consultancy firms and local authorities, and many of our graduates have gone to undertake PhDs.

Graduate Employers include: Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE) Marine Institute, Galway County Council, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), Bord na Mona, Coillte, Teagasc, Environment Agency (UK), Electricity Supply Board (ESB), Bord Iascaigh Mhara.

Partnership with United Nations (UN) on Climate Change Adaptation

The MSc Global Environmental Economics at the University of Galway has recently partnered with the UN Climate Change and Universities Partnership Programme. The Partnership offers opportunities for graduate students to work closely with local, national, and regional partners and international experts to carry out research projects aimed at addressing identified knowledge gaps related to the challenges of adapting to climate change.

Students from the MSc Global Environmental Economics class of 2022-23 are currently working on a project developing a better understanding of the limits to ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) for coastal flood risk in the Pacific Islands. The project will form the basis of the students’ Masters Dissertations, and is supervised by Dr Thomas K.J. McDermott, programme director. The UN Partnership programme is part of the Nairobi work programme: The UNFCCC Knowledge-to-Action Hub for Climate Adaptation and Resilience.

Field Trips

Field trips are offered as part of this programme, below are the field trips that students from the class of 2022-23 got to participate in:

RV Tom Crean

The seagoing training for the programme is held in Cork, Ireland each year on board the RV Tom Crean. This training provide students with invaluable skills for future employment, as it involves students responding to a virtual company request to conduct a cost benefit analysis for a new environmental project.

This training is a collaboration between the Strategic Marine Alliance for Research and Training and the Social and Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU) at the University of Galway. This is a unique opportunity for students to experience the multidisciplinary scientific research methods used to survey the marine environment through the core disciplines of oceanography, fisheries biology, benthic ecology and geosciences.

Visit to the UNFCCC headquarters in Bonn

Three students from last year’s MSc class, Alfred Afeku, Brenda Daly and Jack Flannery (cc’d), worked on a research project over the summer in partnership with the UNFCCC. Brenda and Alfred recently visited the UNFCCC headquarters in Bonn. For more information see: blog post, UN University of Galway Partnership Student Report. ‌

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Trip to Brussels

A group of our students visited SolarPower Europe and a number of other environmental companies during a trip to Brussels and gained first-hand insights into their work.

Our students best described the filed trip:

"The field trip was completely eye-opening to the vast number of opportunities available in Europe in the field of Environmental Economics. It was a great experience to learn from those who work within the European Commission and from the organisations that help the commission make their decisions on EU energy policy. After a year of hard work, it was really rewarding to hear from everyone we met that our skills were highly demanded. Coming home from this trip I was excited and eager to start my career in Environmental Economics." Emily Muldoon.

Research Expertise

Economics at the University of Galway has a long and proud tradition of engaging with environmental issues, both through our teaching and research. The MSc in Global Environmental Economics was introduced in 2018, replacing the previous MSc in Natural Resource Economics and Governance.

Environmental Economics represents one of the core areas of research focus within Economics at the University of Galway, and this is reflected in the presence of two highly active research groups in the area of environmental economics:

The Centre for Economic Research on Inclusivity and Sustainability (CERIS):

The CERIS Mission is to conduct high-quality economic research that helps develop a more inclusive society and sustainable environment, ensuring a better future for all. We aim to better understand individual behaviour and policy decisions, from the local to the global scale.

The Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU):

SEMRU is the foremost marine economic analysis centre in Ireland. SEMRU was established with the objective of expanding marine socio-economic research capability in Ireland, centred around a research cluster in Galway led by the University of Galway and linking with Teagasc and the Marine Institute.

Climate Resilient Places Reserach Project

Climate Resilient Places (CRePs) is a two-year research project, funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transport. The project is led by researchers at the Centre for Economic Research on Inclusivity and Sustainability (CERIS) and involves interdisciplinary collaboration between economists, engineers and psychologists at the University of Galway. The project directly addresses a number of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Read more: Climate Resilient Places Project

Niamh Burke Renewable Energy Bursary - Arthur Cox/ IWEA

The bursary is open to students wishing to study in the renewable energy field in Ireland, at Postgraduate level. All relevant disciplines are open for application - law, economics, engineering, modelling, policy and others. The closing date is the 6^th of March. Apply here.