ENE470 Climate change: Policies and negotiations (Model UNFCCC)

• Topics

  Climate change is one of the biggest problems of today and tomorrow. Without rapid action, a strong rise in global temperatures will be unavoidable. Businesses contribute to climate change but also suffer from its consequences, while for selected industries it poses great opportunities. The outcomes of global climate negotiations play a vital role for doing business, and global players are heavily invested in trying to influence these negotiations. This course discusses climate change largely from a business perspective, as well as global climate policy. The course is offered in parallel in other CEMS business schools and ends with the Model UNFCCC, in which students from all participating schools come together and represent different parties in a simulation of global climate negotiations. Module 1 introduces climate change and climate policy, Module 2 focuses on business and climate change, Module 3 prepares students for the Model UNFCCC and in Module 4 the event take place.

• Learning outcome

  Upon completion of the course the student will:

  Knowledge

  • understand the causes and consequences of climate change
  • have knowledge about policies to address climate change, both under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and beyond
  • have experienced the diverging interests of various stakeholders such as government officials of diverse countries, industry lobbyists and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
  • possess tools to analyse the effect of climate change and climate policy on different types of businesses in a globalized world
  • understand the relationship between corporate strategies and public policies in a climate context, including common goals and potential conflicts

  Skill

  Upon completion of the course the student will be able to:

  • design and evaluate a green business strategy that tackles problems and uses opportunities that come with climate change and is grounded in stakeholder support.
  • critically evaluate climate policies and policy suggestions by various stakeholders
  • identify and apply strategies for bilateral and multilateral negotiations
  • negotiate and find a consensus with students from other countries with different cultural backgrounds, thereby experiencing the global dimension of the climate challenge

• Teaching

  • Regular lectures
  • Guest lecture(s) by industry expert(s)
  • Student presentations and feedback sessions
  • Role play with all participating schools (Model UNFCCC)

  Please note: Due to the present corona situation, all elements may be partly or fully held online.

• Restricted access

  Due to the limited number of roles in the final Model UNFCCC, the number of participants is restricted to maximum 18. CEMS students have priority.

• Recommended prerequisites

  None.

• Credit reduction due to overlap

  None.

• Requirements for course approval

  None.

• Assessment

  • Individual 2 hours Home Exam (30%, individual grade)
  • Background presentation (20%, team grade), in groups of 2-4 students, in week 6
    • The students will be working on the presentation in week 4 and 5
  • Position paper (30%, team grade)
    • The students will be working on the position paper in week 5 and 6, in the same groups as for the background presentation.
  • Individual reflection paper (20%, individual grade)
    • The students will work on the individual reflection paper after the Model UNFCCC simulations, thus in weeks 9-11. The paper will be due around three weeks after the simulations.

  All elements must be taken in the same semester.

• Grading Scale

  A-F

• Computer tools

  None.

• Literature

  Richard S.J. Tol: Climate Economics

  Selected articles, further book chapters and online sources (such as https://unfccc.int/https://unfccc.int/)

  Oppdatert 22. januar 2021: Følgende bok er fjernet fra litteraturlisten:

  Scott Barrett: Why Cooperate? The Incentive to Supply Global Public Goods