International climate politics: power, justice and cooperation

Aims

This course aims to:

• develop your understanding of how the International Relations scholarship makes sense of global climate politics and to provide you with tools for thinking systematically and critically about the multiple factors and considerations that influence states’ positions towards global climate change
• deepen your understanding of the factors and underlying considerations that shape your own perspective towards global climate change and climate policy and support you in engaging with divergent (sometimes contradictory) perspectives towards the climate problem. In doing so, the aim is to develop your understanding of the multiple trade-offs that need to be reconciled and balanced in climate responses and the challenges to effective global climate cooperation
• develop your understanding of political, economic, social, technological and ethical factors that shape key regional perspectives and behaviour under the global climate regime. Key regions that will be focused on include the EU, the US, China and medium and low-income economies 

Course content

This course equips you with tools to make sense of why the world struggles to cooperate on climate change. You will learn how core International Relations (IR) theories, including realism, liberalism, constructivism, and critical theory, explain global climate politics. By applying these perspectives, you will develop a systematic and critical understanding of the many factors and trade‑offs that shape states’ climate positions, from economic interests and energy security to historical responsibility and climate justice.

The course is highly applied. You will examine the climate politics of key regions, including the European Union, the United States, China, and medium and low‑income economies. This will help you understand how regional interests, and power relations influence behaviour in multilateral climate negotiations.

You will also be encouraged to reflect on your own assumptions and values. Through guided discussion and group work with students from diverse backgrounds, you will explore different perspectives on climate change and develop a clearer sense of your own positionality as well as the underlying concerns that underlie divergent perspectives towards the climate problem.

The course culminates in a UN climate summit simulation, where you will step into the shoes of negotiators and experience the tensions, compromises, and approaches for arriving at solutions through global climate diplomacy. 

What to expect on this course

You will learn in a highly interactive in person environment that combines short lectures, guided discussions, class debates, small group activities and practical activities. The course will create many opportunities to work with peers to apply taught concepts to real world issues and cases in global climate politics. You will take part in UN simulation activities and work on case studies that will help you explore the multiple issues and perspectives of different countries and geopolitical alliances that shape the multilateral climate negotiations. 

The interactive format will allow you to develop your critical thinking skills and receive feedback on arguments that you develop about drivers, issues and potential solutions to aspects of global climate politics. You will have opportunities to ask questions, challenge assumptions and discover your own positionality towards critical issues in climate diplomacy.

Course sessions

1. Introduction to the climate problem: Why climate change matters, the scale of the challenge, and how its impacts vary across regions. You will take part in an activity where you represent different regions, for example high‑ and low‑income countries, to identify core climate risks for your region and to explore the appeal and drawbacks of different policy responses. The session will also introduce key policy options, such as mitigation, carbon dioxide removal, and adaptation, and consider the time‑urgency of action.
2. IR theory on climate politics: This session will give you an overview of how different International Relations theories understand climate change and international cooperation. We will examine what theories such as realism, liberalism, constructivism, and critical theory say about why cooperation on climate change emerges, succeeds or fails. The session will conclude by encouraging you to reflect on your own assumptions and theoretical affinities, and how these shape the way you see global climate politics.
3. IR theory and case studies: In this session, you will work in groups to apply IR theory to a particular region, for example the EU, the United States, China, or a medium or low‑income region, and present your analysis. You will evaluate the usefulness and limitations of different theoretical approaches for making sense of that region’s climate politics.
4. Global ethics and climate justice: This session focuses on ethics and climate justice, particularly North–South dynamics. We will examine principles such as common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) and CBDR‑RC, historical responsibility, and different visions of climate justice, and how these translate into different outcomes for countries in terms of burden‑sharing and the right to development. We will discuss the ethics of different policy responses such as offsets, and explore issues of intergenerational ethics, mitigation deterrence associated with new technologies, animal rights, ecosphere rights, and broader North-South power relations. A class debate will give you the chance to represent and defend different ethical perspectives on climate change. 
5. UN climate summit: In the final session, you will work in small groups to prepare position papers representing your assigned country or negotiating bloc. You will then negotiate with other groups on a core issue in global climate cooperation, to experience the areas of conflict and potential cooperation in multilateral climate negotiations. The debate will focus on an aspect of global climate diplomacy to reflect the interests of the class, such as, for example, the role and governance of carbon dioxide removal in meeting ambitious global climate targets. 

Learning outcomes

As a result of the course, you will gain a greater understanding of the subject and you should be able to:

• understand the core challenges and trade-offs posed by climate change and different responses to the climate challenge
• apply core IR theories to different regions and aspects of the climate problem to think systematically about how different actors approach climate change and engage with divergent perspectives towards the climate problem understand the core ethical questions and challenges posed by climate change and climate responses and how they complicate global climate cooperation

Required reading

There are no compulsory readings for this course. However, you may find the recommended reading list of interest to supplement your course.