Module: Climate Change & Environmental Policy

Module Specifications.

Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025

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Date posted: September 2024

Module Title	Climate Change & Environmental Policy
Module Code	LG249 (ITS) / POL1034 (Banner)
Faculty	Humanities & Social Sciences	School	Law & Government
Module Co-ordinator	Markus Pauli
Module Teachers	-
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	5
Pre-requisite	Not Available
Co-requisite	Not Available
Compatibles	Not Available
Incompatibles	Not Available

Coursework Only

Description

This course provides students with a survey of domestic and international climate change and environmental policies and politics. This module will explore the dynamics that characterize the global response to climate change and environmental challenges and the links between international negotiations and climate change and environmental politics at the national level. Students will learn about the different challenges and opportunities faced by developed countries and emerging economies.

Learning Outcomes

1. Familiarity with key policy dimensions of climate change, environmental challenges and related areas.
2. Ability to critically evaluate contemporary domestic climate, environmental, and energy politics in high and middle-income countries.
3. Ability to appraise historical and contemporary global governance mechanisms to manage climate and environmental challenges.
4. Understand systematically the challenges posed by climate change and environmental degradation in key sectors and possible mitigation, adaptation, nature and wildlife conservation responses to these challenges.

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full-time hours per semester
Lecture	22	Lectures, Small-Group Discussions & Workshops, Simulation
Independent Study	228	No Description
Total Workload: 250

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Introduction and Context

Actors, interests, power
Actors, interests, institutions and power asymmetries in climate change and environmental policies and politics at national and global levels.

Environmental & climate change politics in industrialised countries
Politics of low-carbon transition and environmental protection in industrialised countries: US, Germany, Ireland, and EU.

Environmental & climate change politics in emerging economies
Climate change and development politics and policies in large emerging economies: China and India.

UN climate regime & world environmental & climate change politics
The UN climate regime, environmental protection and world politics.

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment	100%	Examination Weight	0%

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Course Work Breakdown
Assignment	Book or Documentary Review: Write a 1,000 word review of one (or few) chapters from one (or more) books from our reading list OR one of the selected documentaries.	25%	n/a
Assignment	Annotated Bibliography: Write a 1,000 word review of five to seven articles/ book chapters (mainly academic sources, but relevant public sector or civil sector reports are fine too) on a focused climate change or environmental policy question of your choice.	25%	n/a
Assignment	Essay: Write a 2,500 word paper (excluding footnotes and bibliography) addressing a clearly defined, focused research question of your own choice. For more details on how to choose a good research question – which is more about a puzzle than a topic! – please see the respective presentation and material.	50%	n/a

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories: Resit category 1: A resit is available for both* components of the module. Resit category 2: No resit is available for a 100% continuous assessment module. Resit category 3: No resit is available for the continuous assessment component where there is a continuous assessment and examination element.
* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a Continuous Assessment/Examination split; where the module is 100% continuous assessment, there will also be a resit of the assessment
This module is category 1

Indicative Reading List

Hulme, Mike: 2020, Contemporary Climate Change Debates: A Student Primer, Routledge, London,
Romm, Joseph: 2018, Climate Change: What Everyone Needs to Know, 2nd, University Press, Oxford,
The science and politics of global climate change: 2019, Dessler, A.E.; Parson, E.A., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
Helm, Dieter: 2020, Net Zero: How We Stop Causing Climate Change, William Collins,
Jordan, Andrew; Viviane Gravey; Camilla Adelle.: 2021, EU environmental policy: contexts, actors and policy dynamics, Routledge,
Kraft, Michael E.: 2017, Environmental policy and politics, Routledge,
Oreskes, Naomi; Conway, Erik.: 2011, Merchants of doubt: How a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco smoke to global warming, Bloomsbury,
Ramesh, Mridula: 2018, Climate Solution: India’s Climate-Change Crisis & What we can do about it, Hachette,
Sternfeld, Eva (Editor): 2017, Routledge Handbook of Environmental Policy in China, Routledge,

Other Resources

None

As discussed with Ken (McDonagh), Darren (Clarke) & Susan (Hegarty) this is a new module in the Undergraduate program Climate and Environmental Sustainability, offered by the School of History and Geography.