621140 Environmental Politics and Climate Change (2 credits)

Lecturer: Dr. Philip Vaughter

Course Description

This course provides students with an introduction to international environmental governance, with a focus on how past environmental movements and policies, as well as modern historical alliances and divisions, have shaped the approach to and implementation of how nations and international coalitions are dealing with the climate change. The course will first examine the historical origin of modern trans-boundary environmental treaties on issues such as marine pollution, acid rain, ozone depletion, and biodiversity conservation. Students will then be asked to examine how past policies and historical events have set the stage for current global negotiations around climate change and the regulation and mitigation of greenhouse gases. In the second part of the course, students will be asked to make a recommendation on a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Treaty for a member of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), taking into account the nation’s ecology, historical international alliances, available resources, concurrent sustainable development aspirations, and economic conditions. The assignments in the course are designed to instruct students with a historical overview of international environmental treaties for modern nation states, as well as to familiarize students with environmental, social, and economic conditions that need to be taken into account when developing a national climate change strategy to comply with a global treaty. Sessions well be structured in such a way that students are encouraged to share what they have learned, as well as their own insights into global environmental governance. Students will be expected to actively participate in each class session (even those that they are not presenting in) and to complete a series of presentations and assignments on their given country.

Course Objectives and Learning Goals

This course will provide students with background knowledge of modern environmental treaties and coalition building between nation states, and demonstrate how international relations and other environmental issues have influenced the current state of negotiation for a global climate treaty. By the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Explain the historical origins of modern coalition blocks, and give insight into why these positions may help or hinder a given nation from responding adequately to climate change.

• Have a thorough understanding of modern trans-boundary environmental treaties, and demonstrate how these need to be taken into account when creating a Nationally Determined Contribution.

• Develop an appreciation for the complexity and detail required in drafting effective recommendations for climate change policy at the national level, especially when local implementation of objectives must be realized.

• Move beyond media coverage of the issues discussed, and delve further into the data to provide insight into evidence for policy and not rhetoric.

• Understand the historical conditions that have led member states to their current situations, taking into account environmental, social, and economic factors into account to better understand their societies.

In this course, students will also be asked to develop their writing and presentation skills in addition to their research skills. Assignments throughout the semester will help students craft their writing and research abilities, while short presentations will be assigned to update the class on what they have discovered about their assigned topic. Each student will be assigned a given AOSIS country to research and write recommendations for during the class.

Learning goals:

1. Enhance students’ understanding of the research process from idea formulation through data analysis and interpretation;

2. Enable students to use gained knowledge to design their own research on a topic of personal interest;

3. Improve students’ ability to critically read and understand the research literature; and

4. Improve students’ confidence in applying selected research methods.