module specification

Climate change and climate fuelled-disasters are the number one driver of the internal displacement of people, forcing an estimated 20 million people from their homes to seek refuge within the border of their own country over the past decade (Oxfam. 2019). While it is overwhelmingly poor countries that are affected, both by climate change and by the displacement and migration of millions of people, climate change is largely caused by the actions of affluent countries in the global north. This is one of many examples of the ways in which climate and environmental change reflect and reinforce existing global inequalities and is key to your sociological understanding of the global world in which we live. In this module, you will look at the evidence for climate change, at the key causes of climate change and at the unequal impact of climate change on communities across the world. The module looks at how the ways in which our food is produced impacts on the environment and displaces poor and rural communities across the world. You will look at case study examples of how climate and environmental change are the key drivers of displacement and migration and at the impact of resource extraction and tourism on climate change and the environment. In the module, you will also look at the policies put in place by institutions globally to address climate change and at the growth of movements for global environmental justice across the world.

Oxfam (2019) Forced from Home. Climate-fuelled displacement. Oxfam Media Briefing.

The aims of the modules are to:

● develop an understanding of the scale and key causes of climate change
● develop and demonstrate an understanding of the inequalities in relation to both the causes and the consequences of climate change
● collect and analyse information to indicate how key issues such as migration or food production are impacted by and impact on climate change
● develop knowledge of some key policy responses developed by institutions globally to address the problems of global climate change

Available for Study Abroad? YES

At the start of the module you will look at evidence from recent reports and other publications of the scale and nature of climate change (LO1). You will then look at the key causes of climate change and at which countries and social groups are most responsible for climate change (LO2). The module will look at the ways in which the energy we use and the food we eat are linked to climate change. You will then look at the impact of climate change and how the consequences of climate change are unequal in terms of the countries and social groups most affected (LO2, LO3). You will look at migration in particular and at the impact of climate change globally on the displacement of people and their migration (LO3).

The module will also look at some of the key institutions and policy instruments, including the Paris Agreement and COP conferences, developed globally in an attempt to address the problems of climate change. You will also look at the development of social movements on climate change across the world (LO4).
 

Learning and teaching will comprise weekly three-hour sessions face-to-face. This will comprise of a weekly lecture followed by a seminar or workshop based session. The seminar will be based around pre-set reading and seminar questions for discussion, in small groups and with the group as a whole.

Learning will be supported by the module weblearn site which will include all teaching materials – reading, video materials (which will be used extensively) and recorded lectures.  A range of teaching materials will be used including a wide range of recent research and reports, video and podcast materials on, for example, climate change and migration and case studies of the impacts of climate change on particular countries and social groups.

Students will be encouraged to develop their own particular interests, be it in a particular topic, region or country of the world. The second assessment will allow students to choose a country or region of interest to them, and conduct research and write a policy briefing paper on the impact of climate change on that country or region.

The module is designed to encourage students to reflect on what is familiar and what they know of the causes and impact of climate change in the global world around them and to develop and adopt a critical approach to knowledge and understanding, in a reflective way, seeking to make linkages and deepen their understanding. Reflective activities will be encouraged in class based activities.

Students will be encouraged to engage fully with feedback opportunities on both assessments and especially from the formative assessment which will help them reflect and develop their learning.

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the scale, nature, causes and consequences of climate change (LO1)
2. Identify and discuss the unequal causes and the unequal impact of climate change globally (LO2)
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the links between climate change and migration (LO3)
4. Document and discuss key policy institutions and instruments for addressing global climate change (LO4)

1. First assessment (20%) – short written answers to 3 questions (200 words each) in which students are asked to (i) highlight the scale of climate change, (ii) identify the key causes of climate change and (iii) discuss the unequal global consequences of climate change (LO1, LO2)

2. Second assessment (80%) – write a Policy Briefing Paper (1,500 words) OR produce a video or podcast (5 minutes) and accompanying written paper (1,000 words) – from the point of view of a climate spokesperson for a country of the student’s choice setting out the evidence, key causes and impact of climate change on the country chosen and on particular social groups and communities and setting out key policies required to be put in place to address the consequences of climate change on the country concerned (LO3, LO4)

https://rl.talis.com/3/londonmet/lists/E02C1C75-36B4-FFC9-584A-9815E8277E5A.html?lang=en