Environment and Development
in World Politics
3rd Year IR Spring semester option
Prof. Peter Newell
(P.J.Newell@sussex.ac.uk)
Overview
• One of the key issues in global politics: how to address
global poverty & inequality in a resource constrained
world
• Are international institutions, the global economy and
prevailing ideas of growth and development up to the
challenge of delivering sustainable development?
• What responses have they produced to date and what
opportunities are there for their reform?
• How do we make theoretical sense of these challenges
and the actors and institutions that will determine our
collective fate?
Aims & Objectives
On completion of this course students should be able to:
• Evaluate the potential and limits of different theoretical
approaches for explaining the nature of International
Relations in this issue area.
• Explain the global politics of key issues such as climate
change, deforestation and biodiversity.
• Conduct a degree of independent research on issues of
environment and development in world politics using
academic and non-academic sources.
• Comprehend the role of key actors in the global politics of
environment and development.
Structure of the Course
History and Perspectives
• Environment and Development in World Politics: A Brief History
• Key actors in the Global Politics of Environment and Development
• Conventional Perspectives on the Global Politics of the Environment and
Development
• Critical Perspectives on the Global Politics of the Environment and
Development
Case studies
• Climate Change
• Biodiversity/Biotechnology
• Forests
Key Issues
• Security and the environment
• Trade, Environment and Development
• Production, Environment and Development
• Finance, Environment and Development
Conclusions
• Alternatives and Ways Forward
Assessment
• Assessment for this course is made up of two key
components.
• A short case study analysis of 2,000 words on a topic of
your choice in the form of a position paper on a key
issue or initiative in the area of environment and
development covered in the course. This will make up
25% of your assessment for this course.
• An essay of 5,000 words from a set list of questions.
This will make up 75% of your assessment for this
course.
Teaching Format
• 3 hour workshop format: a weekly 1 hour
lecture with a break followed by a two-hour
seminar.
• The latter will include group presentations,
debates, role plays, video sessions. These will
require preparation in advance of the session.
About me
• 20 years of working on environmental issues
• Worked for environmental NGOs in Europe & UK
(Friends of the Earth & Climate Network Europe)
• Consultancy and research work for international
organisations (UNDP, GEF, IDB) and governments
• Research on global politics of climate change,
energy and carbon markets. Previous work on
biotechnology, trade & environment & corporate
regulation.
• Previously worked at Universities of Oxford,
Warwick, East Anglia
Environment and Development in
World Politics
Overview
The question of whether current forms of economic and political organisation in international society
are capable of responding to the challenge of sustainable development is more pertinent than ever
before. Questions are being asked about how development can be redefined to accommodate
ecological challenges or whether we need to fundamentally rethink notions of growth and progress.
This course takes a critical look at the actors and issues implicated in the emerging global debate on
sustainable development. It engages with competing theoretical perspectives about the drivers of
environmental change and how best to explain the nature of international cooperation on the
environment and its limits, but also aims to provide students with a detailed understanding of the
defining issues and tensions that constitute the struggle to define future notions of development.
The course will address empirical case studies such as climate change, biodiversity and biotechnology
and deforestation as well as the relationship between trade and the environment, finance and the
environment and production and the environment in a context of globalisation. Students will gain an
understanding of the key actors in these debates from governments and international institutions to
civil society organisations and corporations and the ways their power and influence can best be
understood.
The course begins with an overview of the shifting nature of the relationship between environment and
development in world politics before looking at the key actors in global debates about sustainable
development. From there it sets out a range of theoretical tools for understanding the global politics of
these issues before focussing in on a range of issue areas, those listed above. It concludes with
reflection on prospects for change and the viability of alternative proposals for better addressing the
environment and development in world politics.