234002 VO Population, Climate Change and Sustainable Development (2023W)

Starting from a historical analysis of the socioeconomic backgrounds of the climate crisis, this course is dedicated to the relationship between population dynamics, its changing size and composition, on global warming. We will investigate the societal driving forces that have led to the population growth, as well as the growth in the ecological footprint of human consumption, which are now becoming increasingly visible in the form of environmental degradation and climatic changes. Humans are, however, not just causing global mean temperatures to rise, they are also victims of the negative consequences of climate change and neither responsibility, nor suffering are equally distributed across the globe. Therefore, the concept of “demographic differential vulnerability” will be a key component of the lecture. The goal of the course is to provide the students with a comprehensive examination of the linkages between population, the environment, and climate change. The course is targeted at students of demography, sociology, environmental studies, as well as other, social or natural sciences with an interest in human-nature interactions. While the conceptual framework used in the course retains a demographic focus, the course materials will reflect the topic’s interdisciplinary nature.