ECTS : 6
Description du contenu de l'enseignement :
The Paris Agreement, reached on 12 December 2015, represents the first comprehensive global climate agreement. The treaty contains many positive provisions that aim to build a new architecture for the global climate regime under the aegis of the UNFCCC. This course will offer students an in-depth analysis of the main provisions contained in the Paris Agreement and the new climate regime it ushers in.
The EU has always been a leader on environmental issues, both from a domestic and a foreign policy perspective, enacting some of the most far-reaching climate and renewable energy policies in the world. EU climate and energy legislation is also supplemented by extensive policies at the national level. The course will examine both internal EU policies and external relations in the field of climate change. This will include a particular focus on the new European Green Deal, other internal EU climate and energy policies, as well as how the EU negotiates within the UNFCCC. By contrast, climate politics in United States have been more volatile. While President Obama sought to launch a number of federal climate initiatives, the Republican Party has consistently demonstrated scepticism towards climate science, with President Trump taking the decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement. While Joe Biden’s election as President has opened the door to America’s return within the Paris Accord, his administration still faces a number of obstacles and domestic opposition for an ambitious federal climate agenda.
As a result, non-state and sub-national actors around the world including cities, states, the private sector and civil society, have a key role to play in compensating for inadequacies at the national level. For instance, parts of the US such as California and New York, as well as cities such as Paris, have become world leaders in enacting climate policies at the local level. Hence, this course will examine the emerging framework of multi-level and polycentric governance, including the role of non-state and sub-national actors as building blocks within the climate regime. Energy and climate policies in the EU will be compared with those in the US and in other countries such as China in order to highlight differences in approach, as well as contrasting perspectives on the future of the global climate regime.
SessionTopic
1Introduction to the course and history of the international environmental regime, with the main institutions, actors and concepts
2The Paris Agreement and the architecture of the new global climate regime under the aegis of the UNFCCC
3History of environmental policies in Europe, with the main institutions, actors and processes involved
4Internal EU climate and energy policies, including interaction with national member state policies
5EU diplomacy and leadership in the global climate regime, with a network of international partnerships
6History of environmental policies in the US, with the main institutions, actors and processes involved
7Contrasting perspectives between Obama and Trump on climate and energy issues, including domestic and foreign policy
8Multi-level governance and the role of sub-national actors in US climate politics, including under Trump and beyond
9Polycentric governance and the role of non-state actors as building blocks within the global climate regime
Compétence à acquérir :
Mode de contrôle des connaissances :
One or two required readings for most sessions, which will be uploaded on Moodle. Optional readings will also be suggested. Students will need to submit a final term paper (2000 words, 50% of the final grade) where they will choose their topic from a proposed list of 12 subjects, based on the material covered in class. Students will have the option of also preparing an oral presentation in a group on a subject of their choosing (15-20 minutes, 40% of the final grade), in relation to the material covered in class. Oral presentations will take place at the beginning of every class. Students who are unable or choose not to prepare an oral presentation will also have the option of writing a second term paper instead (in that case, each term paper will count for 45% of the final grade). The remaining 10% is a participation grade, which takes into account not only participation in class, but also attendance and punctuality.
The passing grade for a course is 10/20.
Class participation: Active class participation – this is what makes classes lively and instructive. Come on time and prepared. Class participation is based on quality of comments, not quantity.
Bibliographie, lectures recommandées :
Week 1:
Suggested reading:
Gupta J. (2014), The History of Global Climate Governance, Cambridge University Press.
Luterbacher U. et al. (2018), Global Climate Policy: Actors, Concepts, and Enduring Challenges, MIT Press.
Week 2:
Required reading:
Savaresi A. (2016), The Paris Agreement: a new beginning?, Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law, 34:1,16-26.
Suggested reading:
Klein D. et al. (2017), The Paris Agreement on Climate Change: Analysis and Commentary, Oxford University Press.
Popovski V. (2018), The Implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change (Law, Ethics and Governance), Routledge.
Salawitch R. J., Canty T. P. and Hope A. P. (2017), Paris Climate Agreement: Beacon of Hope, Springer.
Week 3:
Required reading:
Barichella A. (2017), How Europe can and should become the guardian of the Paris Agreement on climate change, European issues n°450 – Robert Schuman Foundation.
Suggested reading:
Delbeke J. and Vis P. (2015), EU Climate Policy Explained, Routledge.
Delreux T. and Happaerts S. (2016), Environmental Policy and Politics in the European Union (The European Union Series), Palgrave.
Week 4:
Required reading:
Wurzel R. K. W. et al. (2019), The European Council, the Council and the Member States: changing environmental leadership dynamics in the European Union, Environmental Politics, 28:2, 248-270.
Suggested reading:
Jänicke M. and Wurzel R. K. W. (2019), Leadership and lesson-drawing in the European Union’s multilevel climate governance system, Environmental Politics, 28:1, 22-42.
Langlet D. and Mahmoudi S. (2016), EU Environmental Law and Policy, Oxford University Press.
Skjærseth J. B. et al. (2016), Linking EU Climate and Energy Policies: Decision-Making, Implementation and Reform (New Horizons in Environmental Politics Series), Edward Elgar Publishing.
Week 5:
Required reading:
Parker C. F. et al. (2017), Assessing the European Union’s global climate change leadership: from Copenhagen to the Paris Agreement, Journal of European Integration, 39:2, 239-252.
Suggested reading:
Afionis S. (2018), The European Union in International Climate Change Negotiations (Routledge Studies in Environmental Policy), Routledge.
Minas S. and Ntousas V. (2019), EU Climate Diplomacy: Politics, Law and Negotiations (Routledge Advances in Climate Change Research), Routledge.
Week 6:
Required reading:
Kraft M. E. (2000), U.S. Environmental Policy and Politics: From the 1960s to the 1990s, Journal of Political History, Vol. 12, No. 1.
Lisowski M. (2002), Playing the Two-level Game: US President Bush's Decision to Repudiate the Kyoto Protocol, Environmental Politics, 11:4, 101-119.
Suggested reading:
Burch J. R. (2016), Climate Change and American Policy: Key Documents, 1979-2015, McFarland & Co Inc.
Hays S. P. (2008), Beauty, Health and Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States, 1955–1985