Economics & Finance for Environmental Leadership
Event Details:
Location
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305
United States
This event is open to:
Back by popular demand, this year we’re returning to in-person training at Stanford University in August 2025. This 2-week course will be run by CSF’s Numbers for Nature Training Institute in collaboration with Stanford’s Natural Capital Project and the Conservation Finance Alliance.
This introductory course provides conservation professionals with a solid foundation in economic theory and practical tools to apply their new skills to the most pressing conservation challenges in their regions. The 2025 cohort will learn to use economic language and theories to build nature into financial decision-making and communicate most effectively with stakeholders across regions, cultures, and backgrounds.
Apply before April 25th & save 2,700 USD
With the generous support of Dry Creek Foundation, we are able to offer scholarships for up to 35% off the cost of tuition - making the total price only 5,000 USD (the same cost as this course 10 years ago!)
This course will cover the following topics
Key economic concepts, market theory: supply, demand, market equilibrium, and competition, why markets are inefficient when it comes to environmental protection: externalities, market failures, property rights, and public goods
Time value of money and the use of natural resources, behavior, incentives and management approaches for common resources, applications of natural resource economics to management and policy and efficiency versus fairness in management approaches.
Links between ecosystems services and human benefits; Environmental values and valuation methods, including best practices and lessons learned; Case study examples of valuation studies to influence policy decisions
Overview and framework of CBAs; Financial versus economic analysis, including incorporation of externalities and sensitivity analysis; Case study examples evaluating the economic feasibility of small-scale and large-scale projects
Finance solutions framework and systems thinking; Public and private sector finance solutions; Scalable solutions and emerging tools and opportunities
Neoclassical versus behavioral economics; Consumer behavior, axioms, indifference curves, and utility; The influence of social and behavioral psychology; Importance of behavioral economics in policy design
Environmental policy instruments and evaluation criteria; Command and control regulation versus economic incentives and market-based instruments; Economics of illegal behavior, including wildlife poaching and overfishing
