Political ideas and the economies on which our modern world is based underpin our societies and the way in which we, as citizens, respond to global environmental issues. Economic growth, combined with the power of consumerism are driving an ever growing hunger to consume more and more resources, and to threaten the ability of our planet’s life support systems to provide even those resources traditionally seen as being renewable. Political ideology has presented us with opposing views on how we might share out the world’s resources and while, in the past, political ideas and our economic systems have failed to account for the value of the natural world, there is a new breed of political thought which might pave the way for a more ethical, equitable and sustainable society.

This course joins the Environmental Politics and Economics module of CAT’s MSc in Sustainability and Adaptation.

It explores in detail the solutions put forward by environmentalists to seek to achieve change at local, national and international level and considers different perspectives on the potential for change within the current political and economic systems.

The course consists of a series of lectures, seminars, participatory workshops and world cafe sessions covering topics that include:

* The international politics of climate change
* Reflections on 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP21 in Paris
* Environmental Ethics
* Localism, grassroots environmentalism and climate activism
* Climate change migration and migration as adaptation
* A critique of neo-classical economics
* Alternative economics
* Ecological modernisation
* Ecosystem services and economics
* Communicating sustainability
* Consensus-decision making
* Carbon Budget Accounting Tool
* Behaviour change and the environment.