Climate Law and Policy

Perhaps the greatest challenge facing humankind is anthropogenic climate change, the rapid warming of the earth’s temperature driven by the consumption of fossil-fuels and emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In this course you will explore climate change as a disruptive legal phenomenon, examining how it is understood as a societal issue and how legal systems have responded to it. You will examine the conflicts these responses have generated and the varied potential pathways forward.

We will analyse approaches across various national jurisdictions, as well as the international legal framework, drawing from a range of materials from a range of disciplines. The aim of the course is to engage critically and creatively with how law shapes, frames, and responds to environmental challenges—and how these responses, in turn, inform us about the role of law in addressing complex global problems.

By the end of this course, you will:

• Be able to demonstrate a critical understanding of how climate change is conceptualised as a legal and societal issue.
• Be able to analyse and critically compare a range of national and inetrnational legal frameworks addressing climate change.
• Develop a critical vocabulary for engaging in discussion on contemporary debates about the role of law in addressing climate change.

This course would suit students in a range of disciplines, including Law, Philosophy, Politics, Economics, Development Studies, Human Geography, or International Relations.

Available as a Residential course on the following dates:

Session 1: 29th June - 17th July 2026

Click below to find out how to apply.

If you have any questions, or would like to know more, please get in touch via the link below.