Course description
We are in the middle of a climate breakdown. Climate change is the most pressing environmental challenge facing humankind. Yet despite scientific consensus on its main cause – human activities – politicians and governments still lack the will and ambition to tackle the crisis effectively. Instead we see cities, companies and NGOs responding. They have become the driving forces behind innovative tools for behavioral change, creating a complex alternative web of institutions, instruments and actors seeking to govern climate change at the global level. However, these bottom-up initiatives are often criticized as green-washing while at the same time fossil fuel interests control the political process.
In this course you examine different approaches to coping with climate change, from international agreements to climate actions by companies, cities and individual citizens. Each week, we delve into different topics and challenges, ranging from the history of climate change governance, to how we adapt to perhaps irreversible climate-induced effects in an equitable way. We also critically engage with questions around responsibility and accountability for and in the climate crisis.
Theory is mixed with practice throughout a set of interactive lectures, where discussions, games and excursions are used to provide concrete examples of how the issue is being addressed at various levels and by various actors. Along the way we invite you to question scientists, policymakers and lobbyists.
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