Syllabus
The course has Moodle website, please enroll in it to have access to reading materials and assignments. 3. 10. Introduction and History of Climate Change Policies and Politics
Moderator: Magdalena Fiřtová/ Eliška Ullrichová 10.10. Global Governance: building up the architecture to tackle climate change
Challenge: One week of zero-waste shopping
Guest: Michal Broža, Head of Office, UN in Prague
Moderator: Magdalena Fiřtová
Mandatory readings:
Falkner, Robert. 2016. The Paris Agreement and the new logic of international climate politics. International Affairs 92(5): 1107-1125.https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2346.12708,
OR
Bernauer, Thomas. 2013. Climate change politics. Annual Review of Political Science 16: 421-448. pdf in the Moodle
OR
Nordhaus, William. 2021. Why Climate Policy Has Failed and How Governments Can Do Better. Foreign Affairs. In pdf in the Moodle.
Recommended:
IPCC, 2021: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change[Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy,J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, In press, doi:10.1017/9781009157896.
IPCC, 2022: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, 3056 pp., doi:10.1017/9781009325844
Richard Kinley, Michael Zammit Cutajar, Yvo de Boer & Christiana Figueres, Beyond good intentions, to urgent action: Former UNFCCC leaders take stock of thirty years of international climate change negotiations, Climate Policy, 21:5, 2021, 593-603, DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2020.1860567, in the e-brary. 17.10. Agriculture, Forestry, and Land Management in Carbon Sequestration
Challenge: Reduce your meat consumption per ⅔ this week (or ideally this semester)
Guest: Jan Skalík, Hnutí DUHA,
Moderator: Eliška Ullrichová
Mandatory Reading:
Marco Bindi and Jorgen E. Olesen, The Response of Agriculture in Europe to Climate Change, Regional Environmental Change 11, 2011, pp. 15-158, DOI: 10.1007/s10113-010-0173-x, e-brary.
Recommended:
Kenny Torrella. This is how much meat and dairy hurt the climate, Vox, Feb 1, 2022, https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22905381/meat-dairy-eggs-climate-change-emissions-rewilding. 24. 10. Policy Design, Actors and Coalition Building, a case study of European Union
Challenge: Reduce the amount of water you use this week
Guest: Adéla Denková, European Climate Foundation, IMS alumni
Moderator: Eliška Ullrichová
Mandatory reading:
Ingmar von Homeyer, Sebastian Oberthür & Andrew J. Jordan, EU climate and energy governance in times of crisis: towards a new agenda, Journal of European Public Policy, 28:7, 2021, pp 959-979, DOI: 10.1080/13501763.2021.1918221
Recommended:
Jungwirth, Planet over Profit? A Reality Check of Europe's Aspirational Climate Policies, Policy Brief, Global Campus South East Europe, 2021, https://repository.gchumanrights.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/c1c310c8-f5e8-4ae2-8bd8-4448498cf61e/content 31.10. Circular Economy, Model, and Impact
Challenge: Find one item in your household that you can reuse, repair or recycle before you throw it away
Guest: Ivana Sobolíková, MIWA, IMS alumni
Moderator: Zuzana Lizcová
Mandatory reading:
Wiedmann, T., Lenzen, M., Keyßer, L.T. et al. Scientists’ warning on affluence. Nature Communication 11, 3107 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16941-y 7.11. Decarbonisation of Energy, a case study of German Energiewende
Challenge: Understand how much energy you use per week and try to consume less of it.
Guest: Štěpán Vizi, Center for Transport and Energy, IMS alumni
Moderator: Zuzana Lizcová
Mandatory
Fabra, N. “The energy transition: An industrial economics perspective,” International Journal of Industrial Organization 79, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijindorg.2021.102734.
Recommended:
L. Hughes, "Politics of Energy and Climate Change, in Oxford Handbook of Energy Politics", K. Hanonck and Allison (eds), Oxford University Press, 2021, see pdf.
Richard Heinberg, Why Climate Change Isn’t Our Biggest Environmental Problem, and Why Technology Won’t Save Us, August 17, 2017, Post Carbon Institute, https://www.postcarbon.org/why-climate-change-isnt-our-biggest-environmental-problem-and-why-technology-wont-save-us/ 14.11. Role of Financial Markets and Financial Regulations in Green Transition
Challenge: Find out (do thorough research) how your bank specifically protects the climate
Guest: Julian Toth, International Sustainable Finance Centre
Moderator: Magdalena Fiřtová
Mandatory:
Roberts, J.T., Weikmans, R., Robinson, Sa. et al., Rebooting a failed promise of climate finance, Nature Climate Change, 11, 180–182 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-00990-2
OR
Copeland, B. R., Shapiro, J. S. and Taylor, M. S. (2022). Globalization and the Environment. in Gopinath, G., Helpman, E. and Rogoff, K. (eds.), Handbook of International Economics, Amsterdam: North Holland.
Recommended:
The Economist Podcast, Money Talks: The backlash against ESG, July 20, 2022. 21.11. Communicating Transition
Challenge: Select one article with a positive story about addressing climate change that you enjoyed reading.
Guest: Milan Vítek, Greenpeace
Moderator: Zuzana Lizcová
Mandatory:
Lamb, W., Mattioli, G., Levi, S., Roberts, J., Capstick, S., Creutzig, F., . . . Steinberger, J. (2020). Discourses of climate delay. Global Sustainability, 3, E17. doi:10.1017/sus.2020.13 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/global-sustainability/article/discourses-of-climate-delay/7B11B722E3E3454BB6212378E32985A7
Recommended:
Williams, H.T.P., McMurray, J.R., Kurz, T. and Lambert, F.H. (2015) Network analysis reveals open forums and echo chambers in social media discussions of climate change. Global Environmental Change. 32: 126–138.
David Roberts, Does hope inspire more action on climate change than fear? We don't know. Vox, Dec.5, 2017, https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/12/5/16732772/emotion-climate-change-communication 28.11. <stro
Annotation
Climate change and the transition to a low-carbon economy is undoubtedly the most important economic issue facing the world today.This course seeks to offer a comparative perspective on climate change policies, as policy responses vary widely from country to country. It will critically examine the regional challenges of decarbonization. Different countries/regions will serve as concrete case studies for thinking about the promises and pitfalls of policymaking trajectories.
The course will welcome a range of renowned guests and experts in specific areas of climate policy. Students will have the opportunity to gain practical and in-depth knowledge from them and deepen their understanding of different perspectives on green transition in the ensuing discussion (Q&A after each lecture).
As climate change is a global problem, cooperation across countries is key to finding effective solutions. The course aims to motivate students to be interactive and collaborative throughout the course and on the final project.