290182 PS Global Development in the Age of Climate Change (2018W)

Climate change has become one of the most important aspects of development research and policy in recent years. Both topics are linked in complex ways: the effects of climate change threaten to undermine global and national development goals; at the same time, it is becoming increasingly important how "development" can function without increasing or even with decreasing emissions. While the main victims of climate change are primarily poorer people in developing countries, the main responsibility for emissions still lies with the industrialised countries. At the global level, therefore, issues of global responsibility and "climate justice" are becoming increasingly important in view of the already observed and yet expected effects of climate change.
After the seminar, the participants should be able:
- to understand and critically assess the links between climate change and development, in particular the major impacts of climate change on development, but also of development on climate change;
- to independently access, understand and evaluate relevant information (literature, data, statistics) on the subject;
- better understand, critically review and evaluate social, political and economic processes as well as policies and their impact on climate change and development;
- further develop their understanding of these relationships in relation to specific topics in which they are particularly interested.

In the seminar we will deal with four major topics:
- Conceptual foundations to describe and understand the relationship between climate change and development (climate change - evidence, dimensions, projections; and development - indicators, livelihoods, human rights, vulnerability and resilience, etc.);
- Key challenges arising from climate change for development (e.g. food security, agriculture, economic growth, health, urbanisation, disaster risk, etc.);
- National and global policy mechanisms that already exist or are emerging (SGDs, UNFCCC process/Paris Agreement, NAPs, Green Climate Fund, etc.)
- Global interdependencies and critical perspectives: of economy, goods, growth;, and responsibility, justice and (neo)colonial remnants.

Working forms are the joint analysis and discussion of relevant literature and documents on the topic, the independent research of sources and materials, the presentation of work results in the form of presentations and panel discussions as well as their written elaboration in seminar papers. The seminar focuses increasingly on cooperative working techniques.