Subject guides / Environmental Policy
Environmental Policy
Also appears in programme titles as: Environmental Governance · Environment and Development
What an environmental policy degree actually is
Air-quality rules, biodiversity law, water rights, the permitting fights that decide whether anything gets built — environmental policy is the broad field of governing how societies use nature, of which climate is only the loudest chapter. A master's here trains you to draft, evaluate and litigate the rules: it is law and economics applied to ecosystems.
The programme names never quite say this. LSE splits the field across Environmental Policy and Regulation and Environment and Development; Oxford calls it Environmental Change and Policy; Cambridge hides a nine-month MPhil inside its Department of Land Economy. King's approaches from the science side. If climate governance specifically is your goal, that guide covers the narrower field — this one is the broader toolbox.
What you study — and the quantitative bar
Expect environmental economics, environmental law and regulation, and policy analysis as the recurring cores — Cambridge makes law, economics and methods compulsory before its options in energy, urban planning and land policy. The development-flavoured routes (LSE's Environment and Development) add Global South political economy; the science-flavoured ones add earth-systems courses.
The quantitative bar sits between the policy and economics fields: microeconomics and statistics are assumed, econometrics is taught rather than required. Lawyers and natural scientists both enter successfully; each finds the other half of the curriculum to be the work.
Where it leads
Environment ministries and regulators, multilateral environment programmes (UNEP, World Bank environment teams), environmental consultancies doing impact assessment and permitting, and the sustainability and compliance functions that every large developer and manufacturer now staffs. The regulatory skill set — reading law, pricing externalities, writing enforceable rules — is the durable core; it transfers into climate, water, waste and biodiversity work as political attention rotates.
Who it suits — and who it does not
A good fit if you are…
- Public-sector and NGO professionals in environment, land, water or energy agencies formalising their toolkit
- Lawyers and economists specialising into environmental regulation
- Applicants wanting the broad environmental toolbox rather than the climate-specific track
Probably not the right degree if…
- Applicants whose focus is squarely emissions and carbon markets — the Climate Governance guide covers that narrower, faster-growing track
- Natural scientists who want to keep doing science: this field is rules and institutions, not research
- Anyone allergic to legal texts — half the curriculum is regulation
Where to study it: the programme map
Five programmes, five different framings — regulation, development, change-and-policy, science-and-policy, and land economy. The Cambridge row is the one applicants most often miss; its department name hides one of the field's strongest nine-month degrees.
Every row verified against the official programme page; oldest verification 15 Jul 2026. Nothing here is a paid placement.
Application strategy and funding routes
Cambridge's MPhil is the quiet standout for scholarship applicants: nine months, law-and-economics core, and the Land Economy address keeps it off most applicants' radar — a genuinely lower-competition route into Cambridge. LSE's pair splits by audience (regulation for developed-market careers, environment-and-development for Global South careers); Oxford's programme leans research.
Every UK programme in the map fits Chevening's length rule — this field has no LSE-MPA-style trap. DAAD's EPOS list is dense with environmental-management courses for developing-country applicants, and Commonwealth's climate-resilience theme reads environmental policy applications generously. Cambridge applicants are automatically considered for Gates Cambridge and Cambridge Trust by applying before the course funding deadline.
Which scholarship funds which programme
Computed from each scheme's published rules (destination, level, course length) — not a guarantee; list-based schemes still require checking the official list.
- Aarhus University — study destination outside the scheme
- American University of Sharjah — study destination outside the scheme
- Australian National University — study destination outside the scheme
- Australian National University — study destination outside the scheme
- Chinese University of Hong Kong — study destination outside the scheme
- Columbia University — study destination outside the scheme
- Cornell University — study destination outside the scheme
- Duke University — study destination outside the scheme
- Duke University — study destination outside the scheme
- EPFL — study destination outside the scheme
- ETH Zurich — study destination outside the scheme
- George Washington University — study destination outside the scheme
- Ghent University — study destination outside the scheme
- Hamad Bin Khalifa University — study destination outside the scheme
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology — study destination outside the scheme
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology — study destination outside the scheme
- Keio University — study destination outside the scheme
- King's College London
- Kyoto University — study destination outside the scheme
- LMU Munich — study destination outside the scheme
- Linkoping University — study destination outside the scheme
- London School of Economics and Political Science
- London School of Economics and Political Science
- Lund University — study destination outside the scheme
- Masaryk University — study destination outside the scheme
- Massey University — study destination outside the scheme
- Monash University — study destination outside the scheme
- Nanyang Technological University — study destination outside the scheme
- National University of Singapore — study destination outside the scheme
- Norwegian University of Life Sciences — study destination outside the scheme
- Peking University — study destination outside the scheme
- Roskilde University — study destination outside the scheme
- Sciences Po — study destination outside the scheme
- Stockholm University — study destination outside the scheme
- Stockholm University — study destination outside the scheme
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences — study destination outside the scheme
- UCLouvain — study destination outside the scheme
- UNSW Sydney — study destination outside the scheme
- University College London
- University of Adelaide — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Auckland — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Basel — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Bern — study destination outside the scheme
- University of California, Berkeley — study destination outside the scheme
- University of California, Berkeley — study destination outside the scheme
- University of California, Los Angeles — study destination outside the scheme
- University of California, San Diego — study destination outside the scheme
- University of California, San Diego — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Cambridge
- University of Copenhagen — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Copenhagen — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Eastern Finland — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Geneva — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Geneva — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Graz — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Jyvaskyla — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Lausanne — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Melbourne — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Michigan — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Oxford
- University of Padua — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Queensland — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Sydney — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Tokyo — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Trento — study destination outside the scheme
- Université de Montréal — study destination outside the scheme
- Uppsala University — study destination outside the scheme
- Victoria University of Wellington — study destination outside the scheme
- WU Vienna University of Economics and Business — study destination outside the scheme
- Yale University — study destination outside the scheme
- École Polytechnique — study destination outside the scheme
- Aarhus University — study destination outside the scheme
- American University of Sharjah — study destination outside the scheme
- Australian National University — study destination outside the scheme
- Australian National University — study destination outside the scheme
- Chinese University of Hong Kong — study destination outside the scheme
- Columbia University — study destination outside the scheme
- Cornell University — study destination outside the scheme
- Duke University — study destination outside the scheme
- Duke University — study destination outside the scheme
- EPFL — study destination outside the scheme
- ETH Zurich — study destination outside the scheme
- George Washington University — study destination outside the scheme
- Ghent University — study destination outside the scheme
- Hamad Bin Khalifa University — study destination outside the scheme
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology — study destination outside the scheme
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology — study destination outside the scheme
- Keio University — study destination outside the scheme
- King's College London — study destination outside the scheme
- Kyoto University — study destination outside the scheme
- LMU Munich — depends on the official participating list
- Linkoping University — study destination outside the scheme
- London School of Economics and Political Science — study destination outside the scheme
- London School of Economics and Political Science — study destination outside the scheme
- Lund University — study destination outside the scheme
- Masaryk University — study destination outside the scheme
- Massey University — study destination outside the scheme
- Monash University — study destination outside the scheme
- Nanyang Technological University — study destination outside the scheme
- National University of Singapore — study destination outside the scheme
- Norwegian University of Life Sciences — study destination outside the scheme
- Peking University — study destination outside the scheme
- Roskilde University — study destination outside the scheme
- Sciences Po — study destination outside the scheme
- Stockholm University — study destination outside the scheme
- Stockholm University — study destination outside the scheme
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences — study destination outside the scheme
- UCLouvain — study destination outside the scheme
- UNSW Sydney — study destination outside the scheme
- University College London — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Adelaide — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Auckland — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Basel — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Bern — study destination outside the scheme
- University of California, Berkeley — study destination outside the scheme
- University of California, Berkeley — study destination outside the scheme
- University of California, Los Angeles — study destination outside the scheme
- University of California, San Diego — study destination outside the scheme
- University of California, San Diego — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Cambridge — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Copenhagen — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Copenhagen — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Eastern Finland — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Geneva — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Geneva — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Graz — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Jyvaskyla — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Lausanne — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Melbourne — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Michigan — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Oxford — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Padua — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Queensland — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Sydney — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Tokyo — study destination outside the scheme
- University of Trento — study destination outside the scheme
- Université de Montréal — study destination outside the scheme
- Uppsala University — study destination outside the scheme
- Victoria University of Wellington — study destination outside the scheme
- WU Vienna University of Economics and Business — study destination outside the scheme
- Yale University — study destination outside the scheme
- École Polytechnique — study destination outside the scheme
- Aarhus University — only at cambridge
- American University of Sharjah — only at cambridge
- Australian National University — only at cambridge
- Australian National University — only at cambridge
- Chinese University of Hong Kong — only at cambridge
- Columbia University — only at cambridge
- Cornell University — only at cambridge
- Duke University — only at cambridge
- Duke University — only at cambridge
- EPFL — only at cambridge
- ETH Zurich — only at cambridge
- George Washington University — only at cambridge
- Ghent University — only at cambridge
- Hamad Bin Khalifa University — only at cambridge
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology — only at cambridge
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology — only at cambridge
- Keio University — only at cambridge
- King's College London — only at cambridge
- Kyoto University — only at cambridge
- LMU Munich — only at cambridge
- Linkoping University — only at cambridge
- London School of Economics and Political Science — only at cambridge
- London School of Economics and Political Science — only at cambridge
- Lund University — only at cambridge
- Masaryk University — only at cambridge
- Massey University — only at cambridge
- Monash University — only at cambridge
- Nanyang Technological University — only at cambridge
- National University of Singapore — only at cambridge
- Norwegian University of Life Sciences — only at cambridge
- Peking University — only at cambridge
- Roskilde University — only at cambridge
- Sciences Po — only at cambridge
- Stockholm University — only at cambridge
- Stockholm University — only at cambridge
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences — only at cambridge
- UCLouvain — only at cambridge
- UNSW Sydney — only at cambridge
- University College London — only at cambridge
- University of Adelaide — only at cambridge
- University of Auckland — only at cambridge
- University of Basel — only at cambridge
- University of Bern — only at cambridge
- University of California, Berkeley — only at cambridge
- University of California, Berkeley — only at cambridge
- University of California, Los Angeles — only at cambridge
- University of California, San Diego — only at cambridge
- University of California, San Diego — only at cambridge
- University of Cambridge
- University of Copenhagen — only at cambridge
- University of Copenhagen — only at cambridge
- University of Eastern Finland — only at cambridge
- University of Geneva — only at cambridge
- University of Geneva — only at cambridge
- University of Graz — only at cambridge
- University of Jyvaskyla — only at cambridge
- University of Lausanne — only at cambridge
- University of Melbourne — only at cambridge
- University of Michigan — only at cambridge
- University of Oxford — only at cambridge
- University of Padua — only at cambridge
- University of Queensland — only at cambridge
- University of Sydney — only at cambridge
- University of Tokyo — only at cambridge
- University of Trento — only at cambridge
- Université de Montréal — only at cambridge
- Uppsala University — only at cambridge
- Victoria University of Wellington — only at cambridge
- WU Vienna University of Economics and Business — only at cambridge
- Yale University — only at cambridge
- École Polytechnique — only at cambridge
Frequently asked questions
Environmental policy vs climate governance — which guide am I in?
This is the broader field: biodiversity, water, land, pollution and climate together. Climate governance is the emissions-and-carbon-markets subfield with its own guide. If your target roles say "climate" in the title, start there; if they say "environment", start here.
Do I need a science background?
No — the core disciplines are economics and law. Science graduates are welcome and common, but they spend the year learning regulation and economics rather than more science.
Does Chevening fund these degrees?
Yes — unusually, every UK programme in our map runs 9–12 months, so all of them sit inside Chevening's length rule, including Cambridge's nine-month MPhil.
Is the Cambridge MPhil really easier to get into?
"Easier" overstates it — but sitting inside the Department of Land Economy keeps it off standard search paths, and applicant pools are smaller than for identically-ranked programmes with obvious names. Discovery friction is real admissions arbitrage; that is much of what our programme maps are for.
Related fields
Sources
Official programme pages (linked per row above) · official scholarship rules and participating-programme lists · university admission regulations. Every data row records its source URL and verification date; stale rows are re-checked or removed.
Global Study Prep is independent and not affiliated with any university or scholarship programme. Programme details change — always confirm on the official page before applying.