ACADEMIC YEAR 2023-24

Academic year 2023-2024, Fall (5th and 7th) semester

Instructors: Professor Emmanuela Doussis, Dr. George Dikaios

Course Description

When and why did the international community decide to address climate change? How did international, European and national regulations on this issue shape and evolve? Which actors are involved and in what way in tackling the problem? How are the negotiations progressing? Why do we study climate diplomacy as a separate subject?

The aim of the course is to understand the formation and evolution of the international, European and national system to address climate change through the structures of diplomacy. The first part explores the role of science in the development and evolution of international, European and national arrangements and policies to mitigate the climate crisis. The second part focuses on specific aspects of international and European diplomacy in relation to climate change and examines practices of applying climate diplomacy outside traditional channels.

In addition to the lectures, the course includes a seminar hour, during which practical issues and methodological issues of approaching climate diplomacy are discussed. Students are asked to prepare policy papers which can be presented orally (optional).

Content of the lectures

• The role of diplomacy in curbing the climate crisis.
• What is the problem of climate change? Public perceptions and political ideology.
• The science of climate change.
• The international system to tackle climate change: from Rio to Kyoto and Paris.
•  The international system to address climate change: the Paris Agreement and the challenges of implementation.
• The European framework to tackle climate change.
• The European Green Deal and the Fit for 55 Package.
• The political economy of climate change.
• The role of the courts in addressing climate change. 
• The impact of climate change on migration.
• Climate diplomacy and international transport organisations.
• Climate change in Greece.