International Climate Strategies / UNFCCC

What it is about

You deal with international climate negotiations under the UNFCCC, with actors, strategies and political content such as mitigation, adaptation, climate finance and Loss & Damage. In the end you will be able to analyze negotiation dynamics and national climate policies, recognize their links to the environmental and resource situation, and apply theoretical concepts to empirical research.

What you will be able to do

Identify history, central concepts, actors and discourses of UNFCCC processes
Know and classify negotiation theories and tactics
Apply comparative analyses of national and international climate policy
Apply empirical/field study methods to test theoretical concepts
Develop advanced understanding of mitigation, adaptation, climate finance and Loss & Damage
Recognize political challenges and opportunities of large-scale transformations
Analyze relationships between national environmental/socioeconomic factors and climate strategies

What the module consists of

SeminarPreparation, discussions, presentations and post-processing of COP experiences
Exkursion/Participation at COP (in person or online)Practical experience as part of the TUM-NGO observer delegation or live tracking of theNegotiations

Teaching method

Guided Reading and short presentationsIntroduction to literature and basis for joint discussions
Exkursion/Observer participation at COPDirect observation of negotiations and side events or participation in one of the COP weeks
Online accompaniment (if not participating on-site)Live tracking of conference content and integration into seminar work
Post-Conference Debriefing and group/individual workIn-depth analysis of observed negotiations and development of case studies

What you should already know

Assessment

PresentationTerm paperBlogbeitrag

You will give a roughly 30-minute presentation (30% of the grade), contribute to an online COP blog (10%), and submit a written term paper of about 15 pages (60%). The presentation should show independent research; the blog posts document your insights during the conference; the written work is an in-depth analysis of a case study (nation, actor group or topic such as climate finance/Climate Justice).

Reading list

Bang, Guri; Underdal, Arild; Andresen, Steinar (Hrsg.) - The Domestic Politics of Global Climate Change: Key Actors in International Climate Cooperation
Hovi, Jon; Skodvin, Tora (Hrsg.) - Climate Governance and the Paris Agreement. Special Issue, Politics and Governance, Vol. 4, No. 3 (2016)
Falkner, R. - Handbook of Global Climate and Environment Policy
Coen, David; Kreienkamp, Julia; Pegram, Tom - Global Climate Governance
National Communications under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Repository of UN Documents

Dates

EXUNFCCC / COP Conference4 groups to choose from

AThu16:00–18:30Online: Videokonferenzonce on 15.10.
BWed16:00–18:30Online: Videokonferenzonce on 21.10.
CMon16:00–18:30
Online: Videokonferenz
7× · 12.10.–30.11.
- 12.10.
- 19.10.
- 26.10.
- 02.11.
- 16.11.
- 23.11.
- 30.11.
DSat09:00–17:00
Externer Ort (siehe Anmerkung)
2× · 24.10.–05.12.
- 24.10.
- 05.12.

SeminarInternational and National Dimensions of Climate Strategies in the Context of UNFCCC4 groups to choose from

AThu16:00–18:30
Online: Videokonferenz
2× · 12.11.–03.12.
- 12.11.
- 03.12.
BWed16:00–18:30
Online: Videokonferenz
2× · 14.10.–04.11.
- 14.10.
- 04.11.
CMon16:00–18:30
Online: Videokonferenz
5× · 12.10.–23.11.
- 12.10.
- 19.10.
- 26.10.
- 02.11.
- 23.11.
DSat09:00–17:00
Externer Ort (siehe Anmerkung)
2× · 24.10.–05.12.
- 24.10.
- 05.12.

From the current semester, not binding. You attend one of several groups; the timetable automatically suggests the one with the fewest clashes.

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