• Postgraduate study:
• Courses
• Apply now
• Fees and funding
• Accommodation
• Open Events
• Work placement
• Study resources
• Student support
• Research
• Campuses
• Choose Kingston
• Disability and mental health support

• Postgraduate study:
• Courses
• Apply now
• Fees and funding
• Accommodation
• Open Events
• Work placement
• Study resources
• Student support
• Research
• Campuses
• Choose Kingston
• Disability and mental health support

The Challenge of Climate Change

• Module code: GG7070
• Year: 2018/9
• Level: 7
• Credits: 30
• Pre-requisites: None
• Co-requisites: None

Summary

This module is a core module of the Environmental Management MSc. It investigates key issues relating to climate change, with a particular focus on the role of policy, governance and social action in creating appropriate responses to this challenge. The aim is to provide students with the knowledge and skills to critically assess different options for dealing with the challenge of climate change and to identify potential ways forward, based on evidence and lessons from implementing climate change policy and programming. Core material will be provided in lectures, supported by a range of seminars and workshops to facilitate further discussion, reflection and analysis. Where feasible, these will draw on the experience of practitioners from a variety of settings and perspectives, or the students themselves. Field visits will be organised to complement the lecture series and to give further practical demonstration of the complexities of climate change-related policy and practice.

Aims

• To provide an analytical overview of the global climate system, anthropogenic and natural drivers for climate change;

• To identify the challenges that climate change poses and examine the implications for various socio-technical/socio-ecological systems, such as energy and food;

• To critically examine and evaluate international, national and local climate change policies, practices and approaches in diverse geographic contexts, at macro and micro scales;

• To explore and analyse the role of different actors (e.g. government, business, civil society organisations and individuals) in responding to the challenges of climate change and the variety of perspectives and low carbon visions they bring.

Learning outcomes

• Critically discuss the social and governance aspects of climate change;

• Interpret and evaluate international, national and local scale climate change policy and practice in a variety of geographic contexts;

• Identify and critique a range of practical mitigation, adaptation and other responses to dealing with climate change challenges, exploring and comparing the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches;

• Assess and synthesise published literature and other information sources dealing with the challenges of climate change and related human responses to them;

• Demonstrate strong skills in researching, analysing, writing up and presenting evidence-based arguments related to policy and practice responses to climate change challenges.

Curriculum content

• Brief review of climate change science and debates, particularly the effect of climate change on terrestrial and aquatic systems, and future climate scenarios and uncertainties.

• The practical challenges of climate change (e.g. floods, drought, ecosystem changes), and how these may impact on a variety of socio-technical-ecological systems (e.g. energy, transport, food).

• Explorations of (a) the variety of visions for what a low carbon future might entail, and (b) the degree of influence different visions have on the nature of climate change strategies adopted, and potential reasons for this.

• The potential role of government and the public sector in responding to climate change challenges, and the policy approaches being adopted to deal with climate change at different scales and in different places, including reference to specific policies for particular socio-technical systems (e.g. energy, food, transport).

• The potential role of the private sector in responding to climate change challenges, and the mitigation and adaptation strategies being adopted (e.g. in relation to energy, food, transport) that includes an analysis of the rationale, strengths and weaknesses of such approaches.

• The potential role of the third sector (e.g. NGOs) and community action in responding to climate change, and the strategies for mitigation and adaptation that are being adopted (e.g. in relation to energy, food and transport) that includes an analysis of the rationale, strengths and weaknesses of such approaches.

• The potential role of household and individual action in responding to climate change, the strategies for mitigation and adaptation that can be adopted at this scale, how they can be facilitated, and analysis of the rationale, strengths and weaknesses of such approaches.

Teaching and learning strategy

Lectures will introduce key climate change policy and practice themes as identified above, and direct students to further reading and resources to support their learning in these areas. Students will be encouraged to ask questions and discuss aspects of the lectures to ensure they not only understand the material presented, but critically reflect upon it. The materials from the lectures will be made available on Canvas, together with other materials of relevance, including items suggested by students as related and interesting.

The lectures will be supplemented by (a) seminars which will provide an opportunity for students to hear from different practitioners and each other about their understanding and experiences of how climate change is being, or can be, dealt with; and (b) workshops which will be held to explore, apply and critique particular methods or techniques designed to assist in dealing with climate change, such as carbon calculators. This will allow students to discuss and reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches, and develop their critical analytical skills. This will also involve students presenting on particular themes themselves in order to improve their presentation skills and to provide feedback on the development of summative assessments.

Field visits will provide further opportunities for students to explore how different actors are attempting to deal with the challenges of climate change and their rationales for the approaches taken, as well as to gather information and data first hand for module assignments. The field visits will allow students to compare and contrast different approaches in different geographic and sectoral areas, both in terms of the nature of the challenges faced (e.g. rural versus urban, energy versus food) and, where possible, in terms of the impacts of different governance environments.

Breakdown of Teaching and Learning Hours

Assessment strategy

Assessment will all be individual and comprise 100% coursework and the elements of summative assessment are a briefing paper (20%), essay (35%) and climate change policy/practice comparison (45%).

These summative exercises are designed both to build critical analytical skills within the related subject area and to challenge students to write in different ways for different types of audiences. The expectation that each successive assessment requires the application of greater personal critical thinking skills is reflected in the weighting given to the different assessments.

Three formative assignments will also be set to assist students in producing successful summative assessments. Each student will do a 10-minute presentation both to share learning and to receive feedback on their analysis thus far for the the briefing paper. Group-based reflective field visit reports will also be produced to capture learning as a formative exercise for all the assignments and to encourage teamwork, an important skill for future employability.

Mapping of Learning Outcomes to Assessment Strategy (Indicative)

Elements of Assessment

Achieving a pass

It IS NOT a requirement that any major element of assessment is passed separately in order to achieve an overall pass for the module.

Bibliography core texts

This module is research-based and as such students are not expected to own a core text book. Staff will encourage students to focus on the use of recent research articles & suitable journals including: Nature Climate Change, Science and Nature.

Bibliography recommended reading

• Adger, N., I. Lorenzoni, and K. O'Brien (eds.) 2009 Adapting to Climate Change; Thresholds, Values and Governance. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

• Boroughs, W.J. 2007 Climate Change: A Multidisciplinary Approach. 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

• Bulkeley, H. and Newell, P., 2015. Governing climate change. Routledge

• Burton, I., & Development Programme United Nations 2005 Adaptation policy frameworks for climate change: developing strategies, policies and measures (p. 258). B. Lim (Ed.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

• Cowie, J. 2012 Climate change: biological and human aspects. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

• Crawford, J., & Davoudi, S. (eds.) 2009 Planning for climate change: strategies for mitigation and adaptation for spatial planners. Routledge, London

• Ensor, J., & Berger, R. 2009 Understanding climate change adaptation: Lessons from community-based approaches. Practical Action Publications, Bourton on Dunsmore

• Giddens, A. 2011 The politics of climate change. 2nd edition. Polity Books, Cambridge

• Harris, F.M.A (ed.) 2004 Global Environmental Issues. Wiley, Chichester

• Helm, D. 2005 Climate Change Policy. Oxford University Press, Oxford

• Houghton, J. 2009 Global Warming: The Complete Briefing. 4th edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

• Hulme, M. 2009 Why We Disagree About Climate Change. Understanding Controversy, Inaction, and Opportunity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

• Ison, S., S. Peake, and S. Wall 2002 Environmental Issues and Policies. Pearson Education Ltd, Harlow

• Lomborg, B. 2001 The Skeptical Environmentalist. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

• MacKay, D. 2008 Sustainable Energy without the Hot Air. UIT, Cambridge

• McCarthy, J.J. 2001 Climate Change: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

• Moser, S.C. (ed.) 2008 Creating a Climate for Change. Communicating Climate Change and Facilitating Social Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

• Newson, M. 2008 Land, Water and Development. 3rd edition. Routledge, London

• Pachauri, R. K. , Allen, M. R. , Barros, V. R. , Broome, J. , Cramer, W. , Christ, R., Church, J. A., Clarke, L., Dahe, Q., Dasgupta, P., Dubash, N. K., Edenhofer, O., Elgizouli, I., Field, C. B., Forster, P., Friedlingstein, P., Fuglestvedt, J., Gomez-Echeverri, L., Hallegatte, S., Hegerl, G., Howden, M., Jiang, K., Jimenez Cisneroz, B., Kattsov, V., Lee, H., Mach, K. J., Marotzke, J., Mastrandrea, M. D., Meyer, L., Minx, J., Mulugetta, Y., O'Brien, K., Oppenheimer, M., Pereira, J. J., Pichs-Madruga, R., Plattner, G. K., Pörtner, H. O., Power, S. B., Preston, B., Ravindranath, N. H., Reisinger, A., Riahi, K., Rusticucci, M., Scholes, R., Seyboth, K., Sokona, Y., Stavins, R., Stocker, T. F., Tschakert, P., van Vuuren, D. and van Ypserle, J. P. 2014 ‘Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ‘, R. Pachauri and L. Meyer (eds.), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Geneva, Switzerland

• Stern, N. 2007 The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge