Environment and Development in World Politics

1. Environment and Development in World Politics 3rd Year IR Spring semester option Prof. Peter Newell (P.J.Newell@sussex.ac.uk)

2. Overview • One of the key issues in global politics: how to address global poverty &inequality in a resource constrained world • Are international institutions, the global economy and prevailing ideas of growth and development up to the challenge of delivering sustainable development? • What responses have they produced to date and what opportunities are there for their reform? • How do we make theoretical sense of these challenges and the actors and institutions that will determine our collective fate?

3. Aims & Objectives On completion of this course students should be able to: • Evaluate the potential and limits of different theoretical approaches for explaining the nature of International Relations in this issue area. • Explain the global politics of key issues such as climate change, deforestation and biodiversity. • Conduct a degree of independent research on issues of environment and development in world politics using academic and non-academic sources. • Comprehend the role of key actors in the global politics of environment and development.

4. Structure of the Course History and Perspectives • Environment and Development in World Politics: A Brief History • Key actors in the Global Politics of Environment and Development • Conventional Perspectives on the Global Politics of the Environment and Development • Critical Perspectives on the Global Politics of the Environment and Development Case studies • Climate Change • Biodiversity/Biotechnology • Forests Key Issues • Security and the environment • Trade, Environment and Development • Production, Environment and Development • Finance, Environment and Development Conclusions • Alternatives and Ways Forward

5. Assessment • Assessment for this course is made up of two key components. • A short case study analysis of 2,000 words on a topic of your choice in the form of a position paper on a key issue or initiative in the area of environment and development covered in the course. This will make up 25% of your assessment for this course. • An essay of 5,000 words from a set list of questions. This will make up 75% of your assessment for this course.

6. Teaching Format • 3 hour workshop format: a weekly 1 hour lecture with a break followed by a two-hour seminar. • The latter will include group presentations, debates, role plays, video sessions. These will require preparation in advance of the session.

7. About me • 20 years of working on environmental issues • Worked for environmental NGOs in Europe & UK (Friends of the Earth & Climate Network Europe) • Consultancy and research work for international organisations (UNDP, GEF, IDB) and governments • Research on global politics of climate change, energy and carbon markets. Previous work on biotechnology, trade & environment & corporate regulation. • Previously worked at Universities of Oxford, Warwick, East Anglia

8. Environment and Development in World Politics Overview The question of whether current forms of economic and political organisation in international society are capable of responding to the challenge of sustainable development is more pertinent than ever before. Questions are being asked about how development can be redefined to accommodate ecological challenges or whether we need to fundamentally rethink notions of growth and progress. This course takes a critical look at the actors and issues implicated in the emerging global debate on sustainable development. It engages with competing theoretical perspectives about the drivers of environmental change and how best to explain the nature of international cooperation on the environment and its limits, but also aims to provide students with a detailed understanding of the defining issues and tensions that constitute the struggle to define future notions of development. The course will address empirical case studies such as climate change, biodiversity and biotechnology and deforestation as well as the relationship between trade and the environment, finance and the environment and production and the environment in a context of globalisation. Students will gain an understanding of the key actors in these debates from governments and international institutions to civil society organisations and corporations and the ways their power and influence can best be understood. The course begins with an overview of the shifting nature of the relationship between environment and development in world politics before looking at the key actors in global debates about sustainable development. From there it sets out a range of theoretical tools for understanding the global politics of these issues before focussing in on a range of issue areas, those listed above. It concludes with reflection on prospects for change and the viability of alternative proposals for better addressing the environment and development in world politics.