ENP-36306 Climate Governance

Course

Credits 6.00

Language of instruction:

English

Assumed knowledge on:

Basic knowledge on environmental science and on the physical aspects of climate change, knowledge on environmental policy and environmental economics.

Contents:

This course provides insight in the social, political and economic processes that govern climate change adaptation and mitigation. It consists of four topics:
(1) development of climate change policy at international, European, national and subnational level, including the role of state and non-state actors (NGOs and business);
(2) major ideas and concepts which are relevant for the analysis of climate governance, such as environmental governance and the governance of risk and uncertainty; the precautionary principle; burden sharing and fairness principles; economic incentives and flexible instruments (emissions trading, CDM, JI); integrated assessment and economic modeling; the role of science in climate governance (in particular the role of the IPCC);
(3) different areas of climate change policy (such as energy policy and energy security, transport policy, forest policy) and their implementation in developed and developing countries from a multi-level perspective;
(4) political and economic dynamics emerging from the negotiations on a post-2012 regime, including the changing positions of major players (such as the EU, the USA and China). All topics are illuminated from the economic (ENR) and the policy (ENP) perspective; the part on international science will be provided by ESA.

Learning outcomes:

At the end of this course students will be able to:
- demonstrate understanding of the major political and economic processes that govern climate adaptation and mitigation (such as the political and economic dynamics of flexible instruments; conflicts and their resolution in international negotiations from Rio to Copenhagen);
- demonstrate understanding of the role of scientific research and the science-policy interaction in climate change policy;
- identify major theories and models from political science and economics which contribute to the understanding of climate governance (such as regime theory, risk governance, fairness in global politics, rational choice and game theory);
- apply these models and concepts to specific cases of climate governance at international, European, national and subnational level (e.g. introduction of the EU Emission Trading System, CDM implementation, promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energy); - propose ways in which the climate governance regime can be transformed and developed.

Activities:

Lectures, studying the course literature, assignments for tutorials, working groups, writing a paper.

Examination:

Participation in tutorials, written exam and paper.

Literature:

Will be made available through EDUweb.