STV4524 ¨C Global Environmental and Climate Politics

Course content

The escalating severity of environmental challenges, including the onset of climate change, is increasingly impacting human well-being across the globe. Environmental degradation and climate change arguably constitute the biggest threats to humanity in recorded history. Addressing these issues necessitates concerted political interventions and international cooperation at unprecedented scales. While the last decades have seen a rapid proliferation of international environmental agreements (IEAs) and a general uptick in climate and environmental policy adoption across the world, countries¡¯ willingness to participate in international cooperation and their readiness to implement mitigation policies domestically vary greatly.

Combining insights from international and comparative politics, this course addresses two questions: 1) which conditions facilitate effective environmental cooperation between countries? And 2) why do countries exhibit different levels of commitment to international environmental regimes and respond to environmental problems differently?

The course will be divided into two parts. In the first part, we will discuss international cooperation on environmental issues and its potential. We will discuss whether international cooperation is most effective when based on norms building or on restructuring incentives; whether it is best developed top-down or bottom-up; whether successful cooperation requires enforcement; whether unilateral efforts are sufficient to solve international environmental problems; and whether transnational cooperation between subnational units (such as cities) can enhance environmental outcomes. In the second part of the course, we will examine countries¡¯ individual commitments to international environmental regimes and discuss the role of various political institutions in shaping countries¡¯ responses to environmental problems and climate change. Among these institutions, we will discuss the role of regime type, comparing democratic and authoritarian responses to environmental problems and climate change, bureaucratic quality, corruption, and institutions shaping state-society relations. We will also analyze the role of public support and organized actors in environmental and climate policy-making.

Particular attention will be given to climate change; however, the course will also consider other environmental problems, such as air pollution, health of marine ecosystems, and deforestation.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

After the successful completion of the course you will be able to:

• Describe why environmental degradation calls for political responses and international cooperation
• Identify when international cooperation may be expected to succeed and understand why it sometimes fails
• List the strengths and weaknesses of different designs of international environmental agreements
• Have an in-depth understanding of how national political institutions shape countries¡¯ international environmental commitments and responses to environmental problems, including regime type, quality of government, state-society relations, and public support for environmental and climate policies
• Know of main data sources on environmental and climate policies, environmental and climate outcomes, and environmental values for an independent empirical analysis

Skills

You will be able to:

• Analyze select cases of environmental degradation as challenges for international governance
• Propose international cooperation designs likely to be effective, while also meeting basic standards of efficiency and political feasibility
• Explain and assess the performance and effectiveness of international environmental agreements
• Critically assess the role of political institutions in causing and creating potential solutions to environmental problems and climate change
• Draft, revise, and complete an academic paper
• Communicate academic knowledge in writing and orally

Competences

You will:

• Possess a basis for professional work that facilitates:
  • describing and analyzing challenges that may require international cooperation
  • identifying an appropriate international environmental agreement design for particular environmental challenges
• Display a critical and knowledge-based approach to international environmental problem-solving
• Be able to apply scientific theories to an empirical analysis of real-world environmental problems

Examination

Term paper and an oral presentation of the term paper

The term paper:

??? must be of 3500-5000 words

??? meet the formal requirements for submission of written assignments.

The oral presentation will be held in a seminar after the submission of the term paper.

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