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Climate Law - LAWS8066

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:

Prerequisite: Academic Program must be either 9200 or 9210 or 5740 or 9230 or 9231 or 5231 or 9220 or 5750 or 8619 or 5499 or 7339.

Excluded: JURD7466

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 then 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.

This course is also available to students undertaking relevant postgraduate non-law degree programs at UNSW provided such enrolment is approved by the appropriate non-law Faculty.

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

LLM Specialisations

Corporate and Commercial Law
Corporate, Commercial and Taxation Law
Environmental Law

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