Climate change is a global problem the nature of which has never been seen before. How and whether a world of sovereign states can cooperate to the degree required to reduce the risks of climate change to manageable levels are questions of great global importance, but not ones where there is political or expert consensus around a particular way forward. Some approaches have been trialed. Many others have been proposed. All are debated.

This course will introduce students to international climate change policy. It will study the global growth of emissions, various approaches to estimating the damage of climate change and the cost of mitigation, the international framework for co-operation on climate change as it evolves (from Kyoto through Bali towards Copenhagen), and the economics and international politics of global public good provision. On this basis, the course will go on to analyze existing approaches and the main proposed international policy and institutional options for mitigating and adapting to climate change.

The lecturer for this course is Dr Stephen Howes, who was the Manager of the International Work Stream for the Garnaut Climate Change Review. He will aim to teach a course which will both expose students to the latest debates and developments in this area, and provide them with the policy tools to evaluate competing proposals. 

Students will have:
i) an understanding of the main debates around international climate change policy;
ii) knowledge of the economic and political economy principles which can be used to assess the main global options proposed to respond to climate change;
iii) the ability to compare and critique competing proposals.

Short essay (20%); long essay (40%); exam (40%); seminar presentation (not assessed)

One two- hour lecture and one one-hour tutorial a week.

ENVS8003 Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation (could be taken before or concurrently with this course).

CRWF8014 Domestic climate change policy and economics.

Students without a background in economics are strongly advised to take an introductory course such as EMDV8078 Introduction to Environmental and Resource Economics, POGO8016 Economic Way of Thinking I, or POGO8081 Economics for Government.

Architectures for Agreement: addressing global climate change in the post-Kyoto World edited by Joseph Aldy and Robert Stavins, 2007. Journal articles

Journal articles, UN documents and other reports

Aldy and Stavins.

Garnaut Review, Chapters 11-13 (www.garnautreview.org.au)

Fast internet connection, Skype and webcam needed for distance students.

Delivery Mode

On campus and distance education