Postgraduate Course: Legal Aspects of Multilateral Climate Negotiations (LAWS11345)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course considers key international law questions relating to climate change from continuing challenges in the existing regime, to new and emerging legal issues related to the future of the climate regime. It thus focuses on how the international legal regime on climate change has evolved and continues to evolve through multilateral negotiations from its establishment in 1992 to to the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol and the current development of a new climate agreement. |
| Course description |
Week 1: The genesis of international climate law
Week 2: The legal architecture of the climate regime
Week 3: The first season of the climate regime: the Kyoto Protocol
Week 4: Means of implementation
Week 5: Compliance under the climate regime (incl. class exercise)
Reading Week
Week 6: The second season of the climate regime: towards a new agreement
Week 7: Land uses and REDD+
Week 8: Climate justice and liability
Week 9: Outlook on the 2015 agreement
Week 10: Negotiation exercise
This course considers key international law questions relating to climate change, from continuing challenges in the existing regime to new and emerging legal issues related to the future of the climate regime. It thus focuses on how the international legal regime on climate change has evolved and continues to evolve through multilateral negotiations from its establishment in 1992 to the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol and the current development of a new climate agreement, which is expected to be adopted in Paris in December 2015.
The course will be particularly topical during the academic year 2015/2016 (as the course will end exactly when the Paris Climate Change Conference will start, thereby enabling students to independently assess its outcomes). The course will remain topical after the Paris Conference, as several aspects of the new agreement are unlikely to be (fully) resolved in Paris and will have to be further worked out through continued multilateral negotiations after December 2015.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Competently debate new and emerging issues in international climate change law, via seminar participation
- Independently produce written research of postgraduate standard which displays critical understanding, sound analysis, independent thought, clear and succinct expression of ideas and the ability to pursue an argument with rigour;
- Synthesise material from a broad variety of primary and secondary sources;
- Use the library, relevant databases and internet resources; and
- Formulate well-reasoned and coherent arguments relating to international climate change law and, where appropriate, suggest reforms to regulatory responses to climate change.
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Reading List
There will be no prescribed textbook for this course. A combination of articles, book chapters and reports will be used. The Law Library is already well stocked with relevant literature. The following volumes are amongst those that will be used:
David Freestone and Charlotte Streck (eds) Legal Aspects of Carbon Trading: Kyoto, Copenhagen, and beyond (OUP, 2009) available in the Law Library as an e-book
Erkki Hollo, Kati Kulovesi and Michael Mehling (eds) Climate Change and the Law (Springer, 2013) available in the Law Library as an e-book
Michael B. Gerrard and Gregory E. Wannier (eds) Threatened Island Nations: Legal Implications of Rising Seas and a Changing Climate (Cambridge University Press, 2012) available in the Law Library as an e-book
Stephen Humphreys (ed) Human Rights and Climate Change¿ (Cambridge University Press, 2009) available in the Law Library as an e-book
Jane McAdam, Climate Change, Forced Migration, and International Law (Oxford University Press, 2009) available in the Law Library as an e-book
Rosemary Rayfuse and Shirley V. Scott (eds) International law in the era of climate change (Edward Elgar, 2012) available in the Law Library as an e-book
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Graduate Attributes: Skills and abilities in Research and Enquiry
The ability to analyse critically complex international climate law questions, demonstrating autonomy, critical knowledge and understanding.
Graduate Attributes: Skills and abilities in Personal and Intellectual Autonomy
Competence in conducting independent study and research to a high level. Take responsibility for own work.
Graduate Attributes: Skills and abilities in Communication
The ability to engage critically in a group setting on issues of contemporary international climate law, drawing on a range of primary and secondary sources and to justify robustly any positions taken or defended.
Graduate Attributes: Skills and abilities in Personal Effectiveness
The ability to manage time effectively, preparing for deep engagement in class; to conduct research for assignments to the requisite level; and to demonstrate improvement over the course of the module.
Technical/practical skills
Demonstrate originality or creativity in the application of knowledge, understanding and/or practices to legal research and writing skills, as well as the capacity to lucidly and convincingly engage in oral presentations and class discussions.
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| Keywords | Law, International Law, Climate |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Elisa Morgera
Tel:
Email: elisa.morgera@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Karin Bolton
Tel: (0131 6)50 2022
Email: Karin.Bolton@ed.ac.uk |
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