AU kursuskatalog arkiv

6920 Climate Change Law ( forår 2011 - 10 ECTS )

Rammer for udbud

• Uddannelsessprog: engelsk
• Niveau: Masters
• Semester/kvarter: Spring 2011
• Timer per uge: 4
• Deltagerbegrænsning: 30
• Undervisningssted: Århus
• Hovedområde: Det Samfundsvidenskabelige Fakultet
• Udbud ID: 25998

Tid og sted

Tuesday 8-10 in building 1325, room 120 and Thursday 8-10 in building 1453, room 116
first lessons on 1st February 2011

Formål

With respect to the substance of climate change law, the course is designed to give the students:

• a solid foundation in international climate law and policy under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, including legal concepts and principles in those treaties;
• detailed knowledge of EU climate law, especially the Emissions Trading System and the Directives on renewable energy and energy efficiency;
• a basic understanding of the interaction between climate change law as such and other areas of EU and national law such as energy law, the rules on state aid, land planning and building requirements, and infrastructure development;
• an awareness of how climate law and policy will expand in scope in the future and the factors that will influence how national law responds to those changes.

Climate change presents an enormous challenge for the world, and for law, in the decades ahead. Last year's COP15 in Copenhagen ended without clear results, but the world cannot avoid addressing climate change. In the end, it will touch almost every dimension of business and society. The goal of this course is to build awareness of those challenges by studying how the law of today deals with climate chang at the international, EU, and national and local levels.

Understanding climate change law requires an understanding of climate change, so a preliminary goal for the course is to give students a basic, non-technical understanding of the science dealing with emissions of greenhouse gases and their effects, which shapes climate change law. On this basis, the course will introduce students to the international, EU, and national level dimensions of climate law and their interaction.

International level
The learning goal is for students to:

• learn international law through study of the international treaty system and institutional system addressing climate change, including important principles, concepts, and governance mechanisms;
• learn how international law is implemented through international institutions and mechanisms and detailed mandates for national governments;
• gain insight into international law making by looking at the evolution of climate change law, the barriers to agreement on future policies, and proposals for alternative approaches.

EU level
The learning goal is to deepen students' understanding of EU law making by examining:

• the development of climate change policy and law by the European Commission, the Council, and the Parliament;
• the current core elements of European Union climate change policy, including issues surrounding the creation and modification of the EU emissions trading system and the EU Directives on renewable energy and energy efficiency;
• - National level
• With respect to national law, the students will learn the interaction between international, EU, national, and local law by studying:
• national law issues in implementing EU emission reduction and energy policy Directives;
• the effects of climate change law on other areas of national policy, such as infrastructure development, transportation, land planning, agriculture and taxation;
• the connections between and need for coordination and integration between international, EU, and national law making.

Indhold

The course will have 5 major sections, with most of the reading and course time devoted to sections 2, 3, and 4.

1. Students will first be introduced to the scientific findings about the processes climate change, the major sources of greenhouse gases, and the scale and intensity of emerging and expected alterations to natural systems from a changing climate.

2. The first law-centered section of the course will examine the basic international agreements and the concepts, principles and strategies contained in them. Existing and emerging international programs related to climate change will be introduced and their operation studied.

3. The second central part of the course will focus on climate law at the EU level, examining in detail the legal issues related to the core elements of the EU's climate strategy: emissions reductions and the Emissions Trading System; and  the Directives for expansion of renewable energy supply and improvements in energy efficiency.

4 . A third central element of climate change law is national law. This part of the course will examine how national law is influenced by, and sometimes contains obstacles to, the demands of EU and international climate change policy. Here the course will give special attention to national renewable energy and energy efficiency measures and their wide-ranging effects on energy systems, local governments, land planning, agriculture, and many other areas of law.

5. The course will conclude with a look to the future, including recent proposals for new strategies to reduce worldwide emissions and the various measures that will need to be taken to adapt to climate change effects such as rising sea levels.

Faglige forudsætninger

None

Underviser

Professor Sanford Ervin Gaines

Undervisnings- og arbejdsform

Lectures and class discussion with active student participation.

English

Litteratur

Materials specifically designed for this course are being developed and will be available in January.

Bedømmelse

Written exam