91661 - Institutions And Policies For Climate Change

Learning outcomes

The student will be able to frame the complex phenomeon of the climate change, to understand the main interdependencies pertaining to the economic and political aspects as well as to the local, sovranational and global dimensions. The students will be able to detect the main consequences in some areas of the economy, society and of international relations. The student will also be able to describe the origin and the evolution of international agreements and programs aiming at dealing with the climate change as well as to understand the impact of such phenomenon on different regions/areas of the world. Specifically, the module is concerned with the political and institutional dimensions of the climate change policies at the international European and national levels. In particular, the module: will provide an introduction to the issue and problem definition; a brief history of international climate change negotiations; an overview of how the international legal and policy framework to address climate change developed over time; a focus on EU efforts in promoting agreements. Institutions, policy programs and measure referred to sustainable agriculture, national and local policy programs will be illustrated.

Course contents

1. Problem definition, basic concepts of climate change politics and policies.

2. Overview of how the international legal and policy framework to address climate change

3. Global conventions and regimes,  key provisions of the UNFCCC, its organisational structure, and different Party groups

4. European Union initiatives and institutions in promoting climate change negatiations and agreements; the Kyoto Protocol, COP 21 Paris Climate Change Conference, COP24 Katowice Climate Change Conference

5. Institutions, organizations and NGOs and policy programs in the EU context, at national and subnational levels; case studies and sectoral in depth presentation of sectoral policies and measures related to sustainable agriculture, low carbon initiatives, local communities initiatives.

Readings/Bibliography

Bibliography common to all the modules; one of the following books, at choice

a) Mastrojeni G. e Pasini A., 2017, Effetto serra, effetto guerra. Clima, conflitti, migrazioni: l'Italia in prima linea, Chiarelettere Editore

b) Di Paola M., 2015, Cambiamento climatico. Una piccola introduzione, LUISS University Press.

Bibliography for this second module

KEOHANE R.O., 2010, The Regime Complex for Climate Change, Harvard Kennedy School January, Discussion Paper 10-33

GIDDENS A., 2015, La politica del cambiamento climatico, Il Saggiatore (only recommended chapters)

DAMRO C. HARDIE I. & MACKENZIE D., 2008, The EU and Climate Change Policy Law Politics and Prominence at Different Levels, Journal of Contemporary European Research, vol. 4, n. 3, pp179-192.

Optional readings:

JAMIESON D., 2011, The Nature of the problem, cap. 3 in DRYZEK J. et al (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society, Oxford University Press, pp. 38-54

CRAMTON P. et al. (eds.) 2017, Global Carbon Pricing. The Path to Climate Cooperation, The MIT Press, limitatamente ai capitoli 6 e 7, pp. 99- 124

Bibliography for not attending students will be communicated.

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures, and seminaries of deepening with specialists could be organized.

Assessment methods

For the attending students there will be two mid-term exams and a final exam. Each mid-term exam is worth 30% of the final grade; the final exams 40%.

The first mid-term exam will cover the arguments of the first module. The second mid-term exam will cover the arguments of the second and third modules. In each mid-term exam students must answer to three open questions; each exam lasts two hours.

If allowed by the number of the attending students, the final exam will be a Report that students write at home; this Report will then be discussed with the instructors during the oral final exam. The topic of the Report will be communicated at the beginning of the third module. The Report must be sent to the istructors at least 5 days before the oral final exam.

The final exam for the not-attending students will be oral and it will cover all the required readings.

Teaching tools

Text-books, Slides, database, videos and official documents

Office hours

See the website of Renata Lizzi