Climate Diplomacy - Einzelansicht

As one of the greatest challenges of our time climate change has introduced a new pivotal point in human development. Consequently, environmental governance and, more specifically, climate governance has become a matter of foreign relations in the 21st century. The increasing competition for resources (land, food, and fuel) by existing and emerging world powers has profoundly changed the context of international environmental governance. Climate change has the potential to amplify every crisis humankind faces, including population growth, strained water, food and other resources, and energy insecurity. The resulting need to impose limitations on the emissions of greenhouse gases and provide for adaptation strategies raises a multitude of political questions with a severe impact on the design and architecture of international agreements. When the Kyoto Protocol was negotiated, climate change was still firmly in the realm of the environment with environmental ministries leading the negotiation efforts. Today climate change negotiations are placed in the midst of concerns relating to national security, economic competitiveness and resource scarcity. Climate negotiations have become politically entangled with a multitude of other consideration and geopolitical concerns, and responsibility has moved to presidents’ offices. The course takes place against the background of the agreement reached at COP-21 held in Paris in 2015, and will focus on giving some background on this new agreement and evaluate its chances to be successfully implemented and mitigate the adverse impacts on climate change. The course will analyze and review country positions, stage negotiation games and simulations, and put climate change policies into the broader geopolitical context.