The Political Economy of Climate Change and Environment module (CP52061)

You will learn about both the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris climate regime. This will allow you to see the continuities and diversities of the global climate regimes.

You will look into the power-struggles between the industrialised and developing countries at the key COP meetings. This will reveal the tough journey towards the low-carbon development at the international level.

We will also examine the driving forces and the barriers behind the policy-decisions on climate policies. You will look at this from within the major economics. These will include the European Union, United States, China and Japan.

What you will learn

In this module you will:

• learn about the interactions between the global climate architecture and individual countries' domestic policy decisions
• learn to apply the "Two-Level Games" theory and the "Public Goods" theory. This will help you to appreciate the nature of the climate governance. You will also learn negotiation strategies applied by individual countries against their domestic politics and economics
• learn about the tough journey of global climate governance since the 1990s. You will learn that the good desires on climate governance often have to embrace the reality of energy transition

By the end of the module you will be able to:

• understand the international climate architecture and domestic climate policy measures. You will also be able to appreciate the driving forces and obstacles in international climate negotiations
• understand the principal theories and central principles relating to the global environment and climate governance
• have the essential skills to use relevant theories that analyse the effectiveness of the international climate regime and the COPs' negotiations. You will be able to assess the impact of domestic policy concerns over the global climate governance

Assignments / assessment

• Presentation on climate policy of a selected country (30%)
  • These are due in week 24
• 3,000-word research paper on certain country's climate policy (70%)
  • This is due in week 29

This module does not have a final exam.

Teaching methods / timetable

• lectures
• classroom discussions
• classroom presentations
• mock COP debates

The module will be taught between weeks 16 and 24, with a reading week in week 19.