Macquarie University

Understanding Climate Change Policies, Management and Adaptation - GEOP705

Global climate change is one of the important issues facing humanity in the 21st century. The ability to mitigate or adapt to projected climate change depends on developing an integrated perspective on the physical, biological, biogeochemical, socio-economic and cultural factors that influence the climate system. This unit focuses on the legal and socio-economic frameworks for understanding mitigation and adaptation to climate change, and covers (a) the legal and regulatory frameworks for climate change, (b) technological and economic strategies for climate mitigation, (c) risk management, (d) the ethical context of climate change specifically with respect to sustainability and cultural diversity and (e) climate-change governance. It also examines human adaptation to climate change from a diversity of perspectives. It will provide students with the background to critically evaluate the complex interactions that influence human responses to climate change and our ability to change future climate trajectories through political, economic and legislative means. The course is taught by a team of internationally renowned experts drawn from the University's Concentration of Research Excellence (CORE) in Climate Futures.