DV3166 Global environmental problems and politics
Prerequisites (applies to degree students only)
GY1009 Human Geography or IR1011 Introduction to international relations or SC1021 Principles of sociology or PS1114 Democratic politics and the State.Syllabus
What is political about global environmental problems? Introduction to the role of states and non-state actors. The politics of calling something 'global'; Global and systemic versus cumulative global problems; a brief history of global environmental meetings and the debates relating to sustainable development.
Environmental regimes: the example of Ozone: Discussion of regimes as a key political approach to agreement between countries; different approaches to regimes (including knowledge regimes); ozone as an example of how an early regimes emerged.
Climate change: Introduction to the problem with a focus on state actors; the early agreements; IPCC and UNFCCC; Kyoto.
Climate change policies: Analysis of flexible mechanisms, links to forests and climate, vulnerability and adaptation.
Business and international environmental governance: Discussion of the role of business in the development of climate change policy and other governances, private-environmental governance, neo-gramscian analysis.
Technology transfer and environment: The importance of the technology. How can technical solutions be extended in developing countries, what needs to be done?
World Bank and Global Environment Facility: Analysis of two key global institutions of global environment; an analysis of what they have done and the major criticisms.
Trade and environment: the example of Genetically Modified Organisms: Summary of debates for and against trade; the ways in which environment was addressed under GATT and WTO; some famous disputes; the Cartegena Protocol on Biosafety.
Non-governmental organisations: Summary of debates about NGOs and some examples of big NGOS in relation to Climate Change.
Biodiversity: Biodiversity; summary of key issues and the difficulty of measurement and control; the emergence of CITES and CBD as examples of biodiversity policy.
Forests: Why forests are different from biodiversity; timber and logging; the problem of logging and illegal logging; the role of people's groups in forest politics; connections with climate change policies
Conclusion: rethinking global environmental politics: The role of states, non-states, and expertise in environmental policy; the dilemmas of following models of global governance; where next...
