Course overview
Explore how integrating the environment into economic thinking can help create a more sustainable and equitable future
Many of today's most pressing environmental and social challenges, from climate change and biodiversity loss to resource depletion and inequality, arise because economic activity is often considered separately from society and the natural environment. Ecological economics takes a different approach, recognising that the economy is embedded within both. Understanding these interconnections can help develop more effective and sustainable solutions to complex global challenges.
As an ecological economics student, you'll explore how economic systems interact with environmental and social systems, developing the knowledge, skills and confidence to address real-world problems from a range of perspectives. You'll engage with contemporary debates and apply a variety of conceptual, analytical and research tools to issues facing governments, businesses and communities around the world.
You’ll explore questions such as:
- How can economies achieve prosperity without increasing environmental damage?
- How should society value nature and biodiversity?
- What policies can support a fair transition to net zero?
- How can governments balance economic development with environmental limits?
You’ll learn from leading experts and academics from the School of Earth, Environment and Sustainability and the Leeds University Business School, both of which conduct internationally excellent research that informs and enhances your learning throughout the programme.
By the end of your course, you’ll be able to help address problems ranging from local concerns over justice and environmental governance to the global crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.
Why study at Leeds
- Study a different kind of economics: Explore an approach that views the economy as embedded within society and the natural environment, equipping you to address today's sustainability challenges.
- Develop advanced research and analytical skills: Conduct your own research project as part of your course and gain experience in researching and delivering a project that focuses on a real-world problem, allowing you to explore your specific interests.
- Tackle real-world global challenges: Apply ecological economics to issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, sustainable development and environmental governance.
- Learn from experts across disciplines: Benefit from teaching by leading researchers at the School of Earth, Environment and Sustainability and Leeds University Business School, combining environmental, social and economics perspectives.
- Get professional experience: Get the chance to collaborate with clients and gain consultancy experience as part of our 2-week online Global Industry Programme.
Explore Leeds
Discover our campus, facilities and accommodation with our 360 virtual experience platform.
With immersive 360 experiences, image galleries, virtual tours, videos and day-in-the-life content, you can take a personalised, interactive tour of campus and explore the University's academic, social and residential environments from anywhere in the world.
You can get a feel for what it's really like to live, learn and belong at the University of Leeds – all from the comfort of home.
Course details and modules
This programme combines core modules in ecological economics, research methods and independent research with optional modules that allow you to explore specialist topics aligned with your interests and career goals.
You’ll develop a strong understanding of how economic, social and environmental systems interact, while building the analytical, quantitative and research skills needed to address complex sustainability challenges. Through topics such as environmental governance, climate and development, sustainable finance, wellbeing economics and ecological macroeconomies, you’ll gain a strong and essential knowledge of the core concepts and tools of ecological economics and explore approaches to creating sustainable and equitable futures.
Course structure
You will study 180 credits over the course of the programme.
The list shown below represents typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our terms and conditions.
Compulsory modules
Introduction to Ecological Economics (30 credits)
You’ll explore the foundations of ecological economics, starting with a brief history of the relationship between economics and the environment. You’ll be introduced to its core vision: the economy as embedded within biophysical limits and shaped by social and political realities. You’ll examine how knowledge is formed—through systems thinking, uncertainty, and decolonial approaches—and reflect on sustainable wellbeing and the ethics of valuing nature and people. Finally, you’ll turn to action, engaging with ideas like degrowth, unequal exchange, eco-social policy, activism, and designing real-world interventions for change. This is a transformative learning experience—inviting you to rethink how you see the economy and how you engage with it.
Methodology in Ecological Economics (30 credits)
You’ll apply key conceptual frameworks, modelling tools, datasets, and qualitative methods within analyses that integrate biophysical, economic, and social processes. You’ll apply methods of ecological economic analysis to real-world challenges.
Research Skills (15 credits)
Explore what defines social science as a knowledge production system, as well as the existence of different research paradigms and strategies. You’ll build an understanding of the relationships between theory, conceptualisation, method, hypotheses or research questions, evidence and measurement in the context of social sciences, as well as issues related to objectivity, generalisability, reliability and utility of research.
You’ll also become familiar with appropriate social sciences research designs (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods) and build the common research skills relevant for the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data that will help support your dissertation project – and your future professional career.
Research Project (60 credits)
You'll apply the knowledge and skills you developed in both semesters 1 and 2 to a research project. Under the guidance of your supervisor, you’ll define, plan and investigate a research question in a subject area that interests you.
Through this project, you’ll build invaluable skills in collating, critically analysing and presenting research alongside transferable skills in data collection, time management, working independently and organisation, which will prepare you for your future career – whether that be in academia or industry.
You must also take one or both of the following modules:
Environmental Values and Governance (15 credits)
You’ll extend your understanding of the concepts and terminology of philosophy, political science, and ecological economics, and how they shed light on the implications of plural values in environmental governance for social and environmental justice. You’ll become familiar with processes and tools that can support environmental governance processes from local to global levels and foster social and environmental justice.
Ecological Macroeconomics (15 credits)
You’ll extend your knowledge of macroeconomic theory to incorporate key ecological economic concepts, including material and energy throughput, thermodynamic constraints, energy return on energy investment (EROI); society-economy links including income distribution and provisioning systems; the relationship between money and the environment; and post-growth economics, including the steady-state economy and degrowth.
Optional modules
Available in Semester 1
Macroeconomics (15 credits)
The module aims to provide you with an advanced treatment of macroeconomics topics to the level required to move into research or professional careers. It includes conflicting views of unemployment, money and inflation, together with debates and consensus in the design of macroeconomic policies, the links between distribution and macroeconomics and available empirical evidence.
Global Economic Coordination and Governance (15 credits)
This module examines the past, present, and possible futures of global economic coordination and governance. This involves both the challenges of national policy coordination and of financial governance. You will learn about fixed-exchange rate systems and about the neoliberal period. You will also learn about the transformation of banking systems, the dilemmas of financial governance, and the challenges of designing a sustainable, productive global economic structure and financial-governance framework for the future.
Econometrics (15 credits)
Gain a solid theoretical understanding of a range of standard econometric techniques. Besides the standard regression techniques, the course provides students with an appreciation and understanding of econometric issues that may pose difficulties in econometric analyses, as well as techniques to overcome these issues.
Available in Semester 2
Finance for Sustainable Development (15 credits)
Analyse finance and the initiatives on finance for sustainability within countries and at a global scale. You will gain a rigorous analytical framework for understanding the economic and political constraints faced by countries in addressing sustainability. Topics include theories of money, the monetary system, financial flows, financial instruments, the role of credit and debt, financing global public goods and environmental justice, sustainability metrics and measurement, and financial crisis.
Money, Monetary Policy and the Global Financial Crisis (15 credits)
This is a module that interrogates competing theoretical and empirical perspectives on money, inflation, and interest rates, and their implications, among other things, for the 2007-2008 GFC.
Environmental Politics, Policy and Governance (15 credits)
This module introduces students to the ways in which the relations between society and the environment are governed. It investigates how the various discourses and practices of environmental governance are socio-politically produced and contested by a range of actors and institutions to produce particular and contingent environmental policy and social outcomes.
Economics of Wellbeing (15 credits)
This module familiarises you with the economics of wellbeing and provides training in applied data analysis. In the lectures, we will answer the question of why measuring individual and societal welfare has become an urgent topic in economics. Then, the concepts and methods of wellbeing research will be introduced. On this basis, we will discuss applications of wellbeing research in economics, such as welfare measurement beyond GDP, labour market policy and cost-benefit analysis of environmental goods.
Green Logistics (15 credits)
The module re-appraises freight transport and supply chain logistics using the latest thinking and research findings, in order to identify and evaluate possibilities to improve sustainability and reduce environmental impact.
Climate and Development (15 credits)
This module explores the many ways climate change and development intersect, with focus on the Global South. The teaching team exposes students to diverse understandings of and approaches to development, as well as the multiple forms of evidence on climate variability, dynamics and weather extremes, impacts, risk and vulnerability. It stimulates debate on proposed solutions through critical analysis of adaptation and mitigation case-studies.
Learning and teaching
You'll learn through a variety of teaching methods, including lectures, discussion seminars, computer-based practicals, presentations, one-to-one supervision, group projects, and self-led study.
Teaching is research-led so that you are learning about and working on real-world problems, using cutting-edge research approaches and data in practical applications.
You'll be assigned a personal tutor, who will maintain contact with you throughout the year and offer pastoral guidance. They will help you to settle into the university and clarify any procedures, as well as helping you prepare for employment upon graduation.
Part-time study options
This course is also available to study part-time, over 24 or 36 months. Please get in touch with our admissions team to discuss part-time study options.
Programme team
The programme team is made up of leading economists and social scientists from within the School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability and the Leeds University Business School. Many are members of two of the UK’s most important research groups: the Economics Department within the Business School and the Sustainability Research Institute.
On this course, you’ll be taught by our expert academics, from lecturers through to professors. You may also be taught by industry professionals with years of experience, as well as trained postgraduate researchers, connecting you to some of the brightest minds on campus.
Assessment
You'll be assessed through a variety of ways including essays, group and individual projects, presentations, computer-based practicals and exams.
Applying
Entry requirements
A bachelor degree with a 2:1 (hons) in any subject.
As part of your application, you'll need to show evidence of your numerical skills and demonstrate your interest in, and ability to engage with the subject.
We also encourage you to apply if you have a 2:2 (hons), relevant work experience or professional qualifications. We take a flexible and inclusive approach and consider every application on its individual merits.
International
We accept a range of international equivalent qualifications. For more information please contact the Admissions Team.
English language requirements
IELTS 6.5 overall, with no less than 6.0 in any component. For other English qualifications, read English language equivalent qualifications.
Improve your English
International students who do not meet the English language requirements for this programme may be able to study our postgraduate pre-sessional English course, to help improve your English language level.
This pre-sessional course is designed with a progression route to your degree programme and you’ll learn academic English in the context of your subject area. To find out more, read Language for Science (6 weeks) and Language for Science: General Science (10 weeks).
We also offer online pre-sessionals alongside our on-campus pre-sessionals. Find out more about our six week online pre-sessional, our 10 week online pre-sessional or our 16 week online pre-sessional.
You can also study pre-sessionals for longer periods – read about our postgraduate pre-sessional English courses.
How to apply
Please visit our How to Apply page for full details of the application process and the supporting documents required as part of your application.
We encourage all applicants to apply as early as possible.
Application deadlines
- International applicants: Friday 30 July 2027
- UK applicants: Friday 10 September 2027
To apply, click the button below to access the University’s online application system.
International applicants can find further information on visas, immigration requirements and student support on our International students pages. We recommend applying as early as possible to allow sufficient time for visa processing before your programme starts.
If you're still unsure about the application process, contact the admissions team for help.
Read about visas, immigration and other information in International students. We recommend that international students apply as early as possible to ensure that they have time to apply for their visa.
Admissions policy
University of Leeds Admissions Policy 2027
This course is taught by
School of Earth, Environment and Sustainability
Leeds University Business School
Contact us
School of Earth, Environment and Sustainability Postgraduate Admissions Team
Fees
UK: £14,400 (Total)
International: £32,300 (Total)
Part-time fees
Fees for part-time courses are normally calculated based on the number of credits you study in a year compared to the equivalent full-time course. For example, if you study half the course credits in a year, you will pay half the full-time course fees for that year.
Read more about paying fees and charges.
For fees information for international taught postgraduate students, read Masters fees.
Additional cost information
Standard travel and accommodation costs associated with compulsory field trips are covered by the University. However, you must pay for some subsistence, incidental or personal expenses such as suitable clothing, footwear and any related visa costs associated with overseas travel.
There may be additional costs related to your course or programme of study, or related to being a student at the University of Leeds. Read more on our living costs and budgeting page.
Scholarships and financial support
If you have the talent and drive, we want you to be able to study with us, whatever your financial circumstances. There may be help for students in the form of loans and non-repayable grants from the University and from the government. Learn more about Masters funding.
Scholarships are also available to help fund your Masters. Find out more and check your eligibility below:
Career opportunities
The demand is growing for forward-thinking professionals who can demonstrate their understanding of economics and how it applies to real-world environmental and social problems.
This Masters degree is ideal if you’re looking to build upon a previous social or natural sciences degree, by developing a pluralistic understanding of economics. It’s designed to equip you with both a conceptual and applied understanding of critical issues in economics and sustainability.
You’ll learn the skills to pursue a successful career in government, business, or an NGO. Many of our graduates also pursue a research career and study for a PhD.
Where this degree could take you
Here’s an insight into the job roles some of our graduates from our School have obtained:
- Consultant, Carbon Intelligence
- Local Transport Solutions Officer, Development Trust Association Scotland
- Economist, Natural England
- Assistant Project Manager, Network Rail
- Business Development Manager, Cofely UK – GDF SUEZ
- Senior Policy Analyst, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
Top 10 most targeted for 10+ years
by the UK's leading employers
Careers support
At Leeds, we help you to prepare for your future from day one.
Our Careers Service has the global expertise and sector-spanning industry partnerships that, combined, go way beyond simply helping you get a job. They provide you with the resources you need to upskill and achieve the future you aspire towards – even in the face of lightning-paced change.
- Dedicated Employability Team: Meet with our qualified careers consultants and specialist employability and placements officers, on hand to help you choose the right path and develop the skills to get there. They can support with CV and cover letter writing, LinkedIn profile building, mock interviews and navigating AI: get confident with tailored advice and techniques.
- Employability and networking events: Get involved in a full range of events, including careers fairs and specialist industry talks with employers who are actively recruiting. You’ll also benefit from mentoring and a supportive careers community, helping you make connections, build your network, and shape your journey as a future professional.
- Skills training: We embed transferable skills training in all our programmes to support your transition to the workplace. Gain expertise employers value, such as communication, problem-solving and research and data analysis.
- MyCareer system: Access a dedicated portal where you can book careers appointments, view helpful resources and browse vacancies and events. Access digital tools, including LinkedIn support, video‑interview preparation, plus global job market and visa guidance. We also offer pre‑arrival support to help you prepare for career planning in the UK and make the most of your time with us.
- Exclusive opportunities: Bring your enterprise to market with our award-winning business advice service, Spark. Apply for vacancies only available to our students. And hone your skills further with Leeds University Union, home to volunteering opportunities and over 300 clubs and societies.
Work placements and industry experience
As a Masters student at Leeds, you’ll have the unique opportunity to gain real-world industry experience with our Global Industry Programme.
You’ll develop key professional skills and gain invaluable insight into working in your chosen field, helping to solve a real business problem from a live company brief.
This experience will enhance your CV, helping you stand out in the competitive graduate jobs market and improving your chances of securing the career you want.
Benefits of the Global Industry Programme:
- Fully online and designed to fit around your studies.
- Opportunities to make professional networks in areas such as digital marketing, business growth, sustainability and funding strategy.
- Gain valuable insight and build consultancy experience with a UK or international organisation, working on a time limited brief.
- Work as part of a team across disciplines to tackle real business needs.
- Advance your experience and hands-on skills by putting the course teachings into practice.
- Improve your employability prospects.
- Make new friends, build confidence and consider your future plans.