Energy and Environmental Politics (BST210)

The course contains a general introduction to theoretical perspectives and controversies in energy and environmental politics. It has a special focus on the tensions between the production and consumption of fossil fuels and climate change. In short: What are the implications of the Paris agreement for Norway's petroleum policies and the future use of fossil fuels? This issue is discussed in relation to the organization of environmental institutions and principles of environmental policy, actors and cleavages in energy- and environmental politics, measures in environmental policy, international environmental treaties, the ethical foundation of environmental policy and green political theory.

The course will be given in English if there are English speaking students.

After the course, you should have knowledge, skills and competencies in the following areas:

Knowledge:

After the course, students should be able to outline core national and international discourses on energy and the environment, and various environmental positions related to these issues.  

Further, the students should have advanced knowledge of the challenges associated with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the climate negotiations and the Paris Agreement, the use of fossil fuels, Carbon, Capture and Storage (CCS), and more. 

Skills:

The students are expected to be able to apply different theoretical approaches in the analysis of Norwegian and international environmental policy, and to be able to critically evaluate different energy- and environmental policy measures, be able to discuss the ethical and normative foundation of energy and environmental politics.

Competencies:

After the course, students are expected to be able to use the knowledge and skills in the analysis of energy- and environmental problems.

Fagperson(er)

Course teacher:

Head of Department:

Course coordinator:

Bøker

Dryzek, J. S. (2013). The politics of the earth : environmental discourses (3rd ed., s. XV, 270 s.). Oxford University Press.

Meadowcroft, J., & Fiorino, D. J. (Red.). (2017). Conceptual innovation in environmental policy. The MIT Press.

1) Introduction to the course

Chapters 1, 9 and 10. (2013). I J. S. Dryzek, The politics of the earth : environmental discourses (3rd ed., s. XV, 270 s.). Oxford University Press.

Fiorino, Daniel J., & Meadowcroft, J. (Red.). (2017). Chapters 1-3. I Conceptual innovation in environmental policy (s. XIII, 367 sider). The MIT Press.

2) ‘Denial’ and ‘problem solving’

Chapters 2-6. (2013). I J. S. Dryzek, The politics of the earth : environmental discourses (3rd ed., s. XV, 270 s.). Oxford University Press.

Garrett Hardin. (1968). The Tragedy of the Commons. Science, 162(3859), 1243–1248. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.162.3859.1243

3) Sustainable development

Chapter 7. (2013). I J. S. Dryzek, The politics of the earth : environmental discourses (3rd ed., s. XV, 270 s.). Oxford University Press.

Langhelle, O. (2017). Sustainable development: Solving the inescapable linkages between environment and development. Chapter 8. I Daniel J. Fiorino & J. Meadowcroft (Red.), Conceptual innovation in environmental policy (s. XIII, 367 sider). The MIT Press.

Biermann, F., Kanie, N., & Kim, R. E. (2017). Global governance by goal-setting: the novel approach of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 26-27, 26–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2017.01.010

Langhelle, Oluf. (1999). Sustainable Development: Exploring the Ethics of Our Common Future. International Political Science Review, 20(2), 129–149. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512199202002

4) Ecological modernization

Bluemling, B. (2016). Giving green teeth to the tiger? A critique of «green growth» in South Korea. I J. A. Puppim de Oliveira, M. V. Mathai, & G. Dale (Red.), Green growth : ideology, political economy, and the alternatives (s. 1 online resource (237 p.)). Zed Books.

Chapter 8. (2013). I J. S. Dryzek, The politics of the earth : environmental discourses (3rd ed., s. XV, 270 s.). Oxford University Press.

Fiorino, D. J. (2017). Green Economy: Reframing Ecology, Economics, and Equity. I Daniel J. Fiorino & J. Meadowcroft (Red.), Conceptual innovation in environmental policy (s. XIII, 367 sider). The MIT Press.

Langhelle, Oluf. (2000). Why ecological modernization and sustainable development should not be conflated. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 2(4), 303–322. https://doi.org/10.1080/714038563

Mol, A. P. J. (1999). Ecological modernization and the environmental transition of Europe: between national variations and common denominators. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 1(2), 167–181. https://doi.org/10.1080/714038532

5) Energy Policy – Competing Visions of the Future Energy Mix

Carbon Tracker Initiative. (2015). Lost in Transition: How the energy sector is missing potential demand destruction. Carbon Tracker Initiative. https://www.carbontracker.org/reports/lost_in_transition/

OECD/IEA. (2019). World Energy Outlook 2019. IEA. https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2019

Global energy trends - Statkraft’s Low Emissions Scenario (s. 40). (2019). Statkraft. https://www.statkraft.com/globalassets/1-statkraft-public/lavutslipsscenario/low-emissions-scenario-2019.pdf/

Bridge, G., Bouzarovski, S., Bradshaw, M., & Eyre, N. (2013). Geographies of energy transition: Space, place and the low-carbon economy. Energy Policy, 53, 331–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.10.066

6) Climate negotiations – towards Paris and the Paris Agreement

Dimitrov, R., Hovi, J., Sprinz, D. F., Sælen, H., & Underdal, A. (2019). Institutional and environmental effectiveness: Will the Paris Agreement work? Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 10(4), n/a–n/a. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.583

IPCC. (2018). Summary for Policymakers. I Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (forfatter), Global Warming of 1.5 °C : an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty. IPCC. http://ipcc.ch/report/sr15/

Dubash, N. K. (2020). Revisiting climate ambition: The case for prioritizing current action over future intent. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.622

7) Climate and energy – Norwegian climate policies

Hovden, E., & Lindseth, G. (2004). Discourses in Norwegian Climate Policy: National Action or Thinking Globally? Political Studies, 52(1), 63–81. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2004.00464.x

Tellmann, S. M. (2012). The constrained influence of discourses: the case of Norwegian climate policy. Environmental Politics: Climate change, national politics and grassroots action, 21(5), 734–752. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2012.692936

8) Norway in Europe: Norway with two legs apart? Fossil fuels

Bang, G., & Lahn, B. (2019). From oil as welfare to oil as risk? Norwegian petroleum resource governance and climate policy. Climate Policy, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2019.1692774

Ryggvik, H., & Kristoffersen, B. (2015). Heating up and cooling down the petrostate: The Norwegian experience. I H. Ryggvik & B. Kristoffersen, Ending the Fossil Fuel Era (s. 249–275). The MIT Press.

Jensen, L. C. (2012). Norwegian petroleum extraction in Arctic waters to save the environment: introducing «discourse co-optation» as a new analytical term. Critical Discourse Studies, 9(1), 29–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2011.632138

Scrace, I. and O. (2009). Energy Issues: Framing and policy change. I I. Scrace, G. MacKerron, & I. Scrase (Red.), Energy for the future : a new agenda (s. XXII, 298 s.). Palgrave Macmillan.

9) Norway in Europe: Norway with two legs apart? Renewable energy ...

Norway: A Petro-Industrial Complex Leaving Little Room for Structural Change? (2015). I E. Moe, Renewable energy transformation or fossil fuel backlash : vested interests in the political economy (s. XVIII, 291 s.). Palgrave Macmillan.

Gullberg, A. T. (2013). The political feasibility of Norway as the «green battery» of Europe. Energy Policy, 57, 615–623. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.02.037

Ruud Egging, & Asgeir Tomasgard. (2018). Norway’s role in the European energy transition. Energy Strategy Reviews, 20, 99–101. https://doaj.org/article/f8a1df4b04d44d38b0b2e5bcf3860db7

Gullberg, A. T., Ohlhorst, D., & Schreurs, M. (2014). Towards a low carbon energy future – Renewable energy cooperation between Germany and Norway. Renewable Energy, 68, 216–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2014.02.001

10) European Energy Policy

Thomas M. Sattich. (2018). The International Reverberations of Germany’s Energiewende; Geoeconomics in the EU’s Geo-Energy Space. I D. Scholten (Red.), The geopolitics of renewables [electronic resource] : Bd. v. 61 (1st ed. 2018., s. 1 online resource (XXI, 338 pages) :). Springer.

Szulecki, K., Fischer, S., Gullberg, A. T., & Sartor, O. (2016). Shaping the «Energy Union»: between national positions and governance innovation in EU energy and climate policy. Climate Policy, 16(5), 548–567. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2015.1135100

Agora Energiewende. (2015). Understanding the Energiewende. FAQ on the ongoing transition of the German power system. Agora Energiewende. https://www.agora-energiewende.de/en/publications/understanding-the-energiewende/

11) Experimental models for creating sustainable built environment

Nielsen, J., & Farrelly, M. A. (2019). Conceptualising the built environment to inform sustainable urban transitions. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 33, 231–248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2019.07.001

Cugurullo, F. (2018). Exposing smart cities and eco-cities: Frankenstein urbanism and the sustainability challenges of the experimental city. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 50(1), 73–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X17738535