| CODE | EST5520 | |||||||||
| TITLE | The European Union and Climate Change | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | Not Applicable | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 6 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | European Studies | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | There is a worldwide acceptance that changes in climate are already affecting, both the industrialised developed nations and the developing countries altogether. The scientific evidence is now overwhelming and it undoubtedly shows that climate change presents remarkably serious global risks, and it demands an critical global response. Within this context it is important to highlight the unique role of the EU, in particular vis a vis climate change policies. The EU has projected itself as leader in tackling climate change, both within and outside its borders. Therefore, given the political role of the EU within the international arena and its position in terms of donor institution, the study of the decisions taken by the EU plays a central role in order to understand an increasingly strategic area of research. Study-unit Aims: The objective of the study-unit is to provide MA students with a solid theoretical background to understand the basic principles of economic and policy aspects of climate change. Students will learn to understand how the interactions between economic activity and the climate system can be understood and how mitigation and adaptation options can be analyzed both at the national and international level, with a specific focus on the actions and policy undertaken by the EU. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Understand the basic principles of the science of climate change; - Apply these principles on key issues of climate change; - Thoroughly understand the economic and policy aspects of climate change mitigation and adaptation; - Understand the positions of the various countries and regions in the climate debate and the political economy of climate change; - Systematically understand EU’s climate change policies and regulations; - Identify and critically evaluate the main interlinkages that exist between climate change and development issues; - Be acquainted with the influence of public perception and NGO action on climate change policy. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Explain the main features that characterise climate change dynamics; - Analyse today's debate on climate change issues with improved political and economic analytical tools; - Understand the role of the EU and the role of the main International Organisations in the context of climate change. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: IPCC, 2007. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M. Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 996 pp. IPCC, 2007. Climate Change 2007: Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007 M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson (eds) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA. IPCC, 2007. Climate Change 2007: Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007 B. Metz, O.R. Davidson, P.R. Bosch, R. Dave, L.A. Meyer (eds) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA. IPCC, 2007. Climate Change 2007: Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Core Writing Team, Pachauri, R.K. and Reisinger, A. (Eds.) IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland. pp 104. Stern, N., (Ed.), 2006. The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Commission of the European Communities, CEC, (2005). Policy Coherence for Development - Accelerating progress towards attaining the Millennium Development Goals, COM (2005) 134 Final. Brussels: Commission of the European Communities. Commission of the European Communities, CEC, (2007). Adapting to climate change in Europe – options for EU action. SEC (2007). Brussels. Adger, W.N., S. Huq, K. Brown, D. Conway, M. Hulme (2003) Adaptation to Climate Change in the Developing World. Progress in Development Studies 3(3): 179-195. Briguglio, L., Koshy, K., Nurse, L., Wong, P., (2008). Climate change and Small Island Developing States. Commonwealth Secretariat: London. Briguglio, L. and Cordina, G., (eds), (2004): Economic Vulnerability and Resilience of Small States. Commonwealth Secretariat and the University of Malta. Burton, I., S. Huq, B. Lim, O. Pilifosova, E.L. Schipper (2002) From Impacts Assessment to Adaptation Priorities: The Shaping of Adaptation Policy. Climate Policy 2 (2-3) 145-159. Huq, S., A. Rahman, M. Konate, Y. Sokona, H. Reid (2003) Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change in Least Developed Countries IIED: London. Schipper, E.L.F., 2007. Climate change Adaptation and Development: Exploring the Linkages. Tyndall Centre for Climate change Research, Working Paper 107. Schipper, E.L.F., 2006. Conceptual History of Adaptation in the UNFCCC Process. Review of European Community and International Environmental Law. Vol. 15 Issue 1. Wiley. p82-92, 11p. |
|||||||||
| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Failure in submitting the Seminar Paper or an unjustified absence in the Examination will result in an overall fail. Class attendance is obligatory, as this is a seminar based course and assessment depends on class participation. Should a student miss more than two seminars, the lecturer may refuse to allow the student to sit for the exam. |
|||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Seminar | |||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
|
|||||||||
| LECTURER/S | Andreas Kotelis |
|||||||||
|
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
||||||||||