Course Name: POL 40995 The Politics of Climate Change and Climate Action
Description: In November 2022 UN Secretary General Guterres sent a strong warning about the earth’s future to the international community: “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.” In our course we will discuss to what extent Mr. Guterres statement is indeed reflecting the state of affairs of the current situation and how difficult climate change will make our future life. We will also try to understand why we are so off track in fighting the heating of our planet. Led by international relations theories we will discuss which level of political action - the international, national or local level - is most urgently required to address the effects of climate change. While the climate crisis is a truly global topic, we will have a special focus on Europe when we talk about national and regional climate policies, e.g. by covering Italy’s climate and energy policy and the EU’s Green Deal.
Credit Hours: 3
Prerequisites: Junior or Senior Standing