ClassInfo

Climate change is the existential crisis of our time. Climate change mitigation requires strong global action, but the global community has been slow to respond. This course will ask why. We will consider various international aspects central to the causes and consequences of, and possible solutions to, the climate crisis. The course aims to provide a broad overview of the key concepts, actors, debates, and issues around the global climate crisis. It demonstrates the complexities of both the nature of the problems as well as the solutions. We will consider such questions as:

- What are the political and economic challenges to creating strong and effective international agreements to address the climate crisis?

- What role can and do non-state actors, including corporations, nongovernmental organizations, and even subnational entities such as cities, play in mitigating climate change?

- How can global concerns over climate (in)justice be best served, and how likely is it that these concerns will be addressed?

By the end of this course, students will have:

- Advanced their critical thinking regarding global responses to the climate crisis;

- Engaged with arguments representing a wide diversity of voices, especially from the Global South;

- Clearly identified specific political problems pertaining to the climate crisis, and worked toward potential solutions.