Climate Politics: Science and Global Governance

Catalog description

Historical and contemporary perspectives on climate politics. Briefly covers the origins of climate understanding in the 1800s, then turns to the co-evolution of climate science and climate politics from the 20th century to the present, including multiple political issues and debates that established human impacts on the global atmosphere. The last half of the course focuses on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the 2015 Paris Agreement, the 2021 IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, organized climate disinformation, and the future of international climate policy and fossil fuels. Assignments include in-class presentations and a policy brief or research paper.