Global Governance of the Earth System

Course goals

This course is designed to promote a critical understanding of earth system governance and to enable students to form well-informed opinions on contentious issues or debates related to its future. 

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Describe the structures and functions of global actors and institutions involved in earth system governance
• Explain key concepts and theories pertinent to the global governance of the earth system
• Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the global dimensions in earth system governance
• Critically reflect on prevailing trends and emerging reform ideas
• Propose normative visions and innovative methods for transforming earth system governance

This course offers students the opportunity to refine their soft skills, including critical thinking, analytical acumen, and creative thinking that extends beyond conventional boundaries. Students will also have the opportunity to develop their interpersonal, communication, time management, problem solving, and leadership skills.

Equipped with these skills and knowledge, students will be well prepared for careers in the public sector, consultancies, businesses, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and research institutes.

Content

Societies face global challenges arising from the transformation of the Earth system. Climate change, ocean acidification, and biodiversity loss are among the most pressing issues at the planetary scale, driven by and resulting in inequalities between and within societies. Earth system governance has become a pivotal challenge. The effectiveness of our sustainability efforts towards planetary integrity and justice hinges upon how governance is organized.

Earth system governance is a multi-level challenge involving all levels of social organisation from the local to the global. In this course, we will explore the global dimensions of earth system governance. We will focus on global actors and institutions involved in various global processes of earth system governance. These global actors are not limited to those at the international level, but also include local, national, and regional actors engaging in transnational processes.

Our overarching goal is to understand the intricacies of earth system governance, cultivate critical perspectives on its shortcomings, and propose innovative approaches for improving governance processes and outcomes. To this end, we will analyse the current state of earth system governance, engage in debates about what it should ideally encompass, and explore creative strategies to drive transformative change in global governance. This holistic approach to learning will equip students with the knowledge, perspectives, and innovative ideas to contribute to the pursuit of global sustainability.

We will anchor our discussion in the earth system governance research framework, which centres on four contextual conditions: transformations, inequality, diversity, and the Anthropocene. Key concepts include architecture, agency, democracy, power, justice, allocation, anticipation, imagination, adaptiveness, and reflexivity. We will explore their theoretical underpinnings and practical applications in global governance research and practice. In particular, we will look at two empirical issue areas – climate governance and ocean governance – and assess the role of law in global governance reform.