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Climate Law - JURD7466

Faculty: Faculty of Law

School: Faculty of Law

Course Outline: See below

Campus: Sydney

Career: Postgraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 2

Enrolment Requirements:

Pre-requisite: 36 UOC of JURD courses for students enrolled prior to 2013. For students enrolled after 2013, pre-requisite: 72 UOC of JURD courses.

Excluded: LAWS8066

CSS Contribution Charge: 2 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

This course examines the origins, evolution and practice of climate change law. It begins with an overview of the scientific, economic and equity contexts of the climate change debate and then proceeds to a detailed examination of the provisions of the Australian and international legal regimes related to climate change. This includes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, its Kyoto Protocol and more recent negotiations. It will also consider the relationship between climate change and other areas of international law and policy, including trade and international development (eg the new international regime for the protection of forests, REDD+).

The course examines climate law and policy in Australia, from the ongoing debates at the national level, to regulations attempting to adapt to the effects of climate change at the local level. As well as carbon pricing and emissions trading, the course covers issues such as corporate reporting and directors' duties, urban planning and development, and climate litigation. The course will include some comparative analysis of climate law in other jurisdictions, particularly the European Union and the United States.

Main Topics

The science and economics of climate change
History of the international climate regime
Structure and framework of the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol
Climate finance and international development (particularly REDD)
The development of climate law and policy in Australia
Emissions trading and carbon pricing laws
Laws on renewable energy and energy efficiency
Carbon sequestration (including bio- and geo-sequestration)
The facilitation of adaptation to climate change through legal frameworks
Business, risk and climate change
Climate change litigation

This course will be useful for students intending to work in a wide range of practice areas, from environmental, planning and energy law, to commercial law, policy and international development. It will be valuable for students interested in the relationships between law and science, technology, ethics, economics and public policy.

Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

To introduce students to the range of laws related to climate change at the local, state, national and international levels. The course aims to enable students to identify legal issues related to climate change, and to critically discuss the efficacy of current and proposed legal regimes for climate change in Australia.

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of this course, students should be able to:

critically discuss the development of climate law and policy in Australia;
describe the range of laws related to climate change at the local, state, national and international levels;
identify and understand the climate change related issues that arise in legal practice;
critically assess the efficacy of Australian climate law within the context of contemporary international challenges;
demonstrate effective written and oral communication skills by discussing course concepts in a critical, reflective and scholarly manner.

Assessment