University for Peace

Université pour la Paix

A United Nations University

UPEACE AFRICA REGIONAL INSTITUTE, PO BOX 2794, ADDIS ABABA CODE 1250 ETHIOPIA, Tel: +251-11-667-0547, www.africa-upeace.org

COURSE OUTLINE
Course Title: Accelerating climate action: The Power of Coalition for Climate Adaptation and Climate
Justice
Course code:
Programme Implementation: UPEACE Somalia, Mogadishu, Somalia
Course Facilitator: Prof. Ernest L. Molua, Professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Resource
Person for UN University for Peace, Africa Regional Programme

1. Course Description
This is an advanced course which educates trainees on the UN goal on Climate Action to promote resilience,
adaptation and mitigation of climate change by communities, countries and regions. Goal 13 calls for urgent
action to combat climate change and its impacts. It is intrinsically linked to all 16 of the other Goals of the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To address climate change, countries adopted the Paris
Agreement to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius. The Paris Agreement is an
acknowledgement of the urgency and scale of the problem. With the negotiation and ongoing ratification of
the sweeping Paris Agreement, commitments to reducing the effects of climate change abound.

2. Course Objectives
To train students on climate change processes, adaptation and mitigation, as well as the numerous public,
private and civil society initiatives for reducing emissions, tackling critical concerns such as jobs and gender
equality, unlocking finance, building sustainable infrastructure, using nature-based solutions, and
advancing adaptation and climate resilience.
3. Methodology and Pedagogy
The trainings are delivered using a blended learning approach such as Lectures, presentations, group work,
and guided sessions of practical exercise. Students are expected to do the readings each day before class and
be prepared to discuss issues arising from the material. This course is research-led teaching and is interactive
using power-points for each in-class session. The course uses a substantial number of case studies from around
the world to give students a grounded experience of how disasters impact on people and their societies, their
political cultures and institutions. Recognizing that adults are self‐directed learners, the methodology for this
course assumes a strong partnership between students and the instructor. Students will be expected to do a
lot more than participate, for the course to succeed, they will have to become their learning process. Students
should have read the assigned texts carefully prior to class in order to understand the main concepts and

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arguments put forth by the authors and to discuss these in class. In the first part of each session, the Professor
will lead the class discussion based on a critical analysis of the assigned readings. This exercise should enable
the class to discuss the substance of the readings and their implications within the overall theoretical
framework of course.

4. Course requirements and Evaluation

4.1 Course requirements

 Class attendance is compulsory – Less than 75% attendance will prevent the student from
participating in examinations and validating the course
 It is obligatory to read the required reading and students are encouraged to read the
recommended reading.
 Students may be invited without warning to lead a 20 minute discussion on the reading of the
day. Each student is expected to do this at least ones before the end of the course.

4.2 Evaluation
 Participation (20%). Participation includes member in group assignments partaking in
discussion during seminars/teaching and acting as the group leader when so assigned.
 Critical Essays (30%). Each student is required to write one short critical analysis (4-5 pages)
 Final Examination (50%)

5. Main topics

Topic 1: Introduction
- Meaning of climate change
- Climate, human systems and development
- UN SDG 13: climate action
- Environmental Activism
- Climate change activists (organisations, people, places)

Topic 2: Science of Climate change

- Causes and drivers
- Trends (past and future)
- Projections (climate scenarios)
- Consequences of climate change (e.g. drought, famine, sea-level rise, heat waves and extreme
temperatures, and ocean acidification)
- Vulnerability of human and economic systems

Topic 3: Economics of climate change

- Effects on food
- Effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services
- Effects on water
- Effects on health
- Effects on coastal and urban areas
- Others (energy, human settlement, etc.)

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Topic 4: Adaptation to climate change
- Private adaptation
- Public adaptation
- Autonomous adaptation
- Costs of adaptation
- Adaptation planning
- Adaptation opportunities and challenges

Topic 5: Mitigation of climate change

- Carbon sequestration processes (forest, soil, oceans, etc)
- Mitigation on Land and the SDGs
- Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in Agriculture & Forestry (REDD+, etc.)
- Sustainable low-carbon economy
- Mitigation planning
- Mitigation opportunities and challenges

Topic 6: Climate change negotiations

- UN Conference of the Parties (processes, outcome)
- The Paris Climate Agreement
- Climate Action Summit 2019
- Roles of climate activists
- Roles of Businesses and Corporate Social Responsibility with respect to Climate change

Topic 7: Climate change Policies for the Transition to Low-Emissions: national, regional and global
- Principles of Public Policy
- Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation
- Integrating the climate policies and programs into Development Plans
- National Adaptation Plans of Actions (NAPA)
- Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
- Decarbonization Pathway Planning and Strategies
- Land-use change and agriculture emissions
- Low Emissions Electricity & Renewables Energy
- Climate Fairness & Justice Low-Emission Solutions and the Business Community
- Climate change finance

Topic 8: Recent Developments and Climate Action Initiatives (Pre-session, Post-Session Reading, Individual
and Group Assignments) 20%
Many Climate action coalitions are at work around the world to cut emissions, pursue nature-based
solutions, extend sustainable energy and invest in resilient cities, among many other initiatives.
Governments, businesses and civil society members are connecting in climate initiatives to speed the
pace of climate action. Examples of Climate Action Initiatives include:
a) Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment
b) Coalition for Disaster-Resilient Infrastructure

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 c) A Call for Action: Raising Ambition for Climate Adaptation and Resilience
d) Campaign for Nature
e) Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance
f) LDC Initiative for Effective Adaptation and Resilience
g) Action towards Climate-Friendly Transport
h) Climate Action for Jobs
i) Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action
j) Leadership for Urban Climate Investment
Assignment: Please, select any one of the initiatives above and prepare a PowerPoint Presentation on
its role in combatting climate change

READINGS

Amorim-Maia, A. T., Anguelovski, I., Chu, E., & Connolly, J. (2022). Intersectional climate justice: A conceptual
pathway for bridging adaptation planning, transformative action, and social equity. Urban Climate, 41, 101053.

Burkett, M. (2008). Just solutions to climate change: A climate justice proposal for a domestic clean development
mechanism. Buff. L. Rev., 56, 169.

Chaturvedi, S., & Doyle, T. (2015). Climate terror: A critical geopolitics of climate change. London: Palgrave
Macmillan.

Della Porta, D., & Parks, L. (2014). Framing processes in the climate movement: From climate change to climate
justice. Routledge handbook of climate change movements, 19-31.

Fieldman, G. (2011). Neoliberalism, the production of vulnerability and the hobbled state: Systemic barriers to
climate adaptation. Climate and Development, 3(2), 159-174.

Fisher, S. (2015). The emerging geographies of climate justice. The Geographical Journal, 181(1), 73-82.

Gaard, G. (2015, March). Ecofeminism and climate change. In Women's Studies International Forum (Vol. 49, pp.
20-33). Pergamon.

Harlan, S. L., Pellow, D. N., Roberts, J. T., Bell, S. E., Holt, W. G., & Nagel, J. (2015). Climate justice and inequality.
Climate change and society: Sociological perspectives, 127-163.

Khan, M., Robinson, S. A., Weikmans, R., Ciplet, D., & Roberts, J. T. (2020). Twenty-five years of adaptation
finance through a climate justice lens. Climatic Change, 161(2), 251-269.

Newell, P. (2008). Civil society, corporate accountability and the politics of climate change. Global Environmental
Politics, 8(3), 122-153.

Okereke, C., & Coventry, P. (2016). Climate justice and the international regime: before, during, and after Paris.
Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 7(6), 834-851.

Ourbak, T., & Magnan, A. K. (2018). The Paris Agreement and climate change negotiations: Small Islands, big
players. Regional Environmental Change, 18(8), 2201-2207.

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Paterson, M., & P‐Laberge, X. (2018). Political economies of climate change. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews:
Climate Change, 9(2), e506.

Posas, P. J. (2007). Roles of religion and ethics in addressing climate change. Ethics in Science and Environmental
Politics, 2007(31).

Rimmer, M. (2019). Beyond the paris agreement: intellectual property, innovation policy, and climate justice.
Laws, 8(1), 7.

Rootes, C. (2012). Climate change, environmental activism and community action in Britain. Social Alternatives,
31(1), 24-28.

Schlosberg, D., & Collins, L. B. (2014). From environmental to climate justice: climate change and the discourse of
environmental justice. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 5(3), 359-374.

Somerville, P. (2020). A critique of climate change mitigation policy. Policy & politics, 48(2), 355-378.

Stallworthy, M. (2006). Sustainability, coastal erosion and climate change: An environmental justice analysis.
Journal of Environmental Law, 18(3), 357-373.

Termeer, C. J. A. M., Dewulf, A., Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen, S. I., Vink, M., & Van Vliet, M. (2016). Coping with the
wicked problem of climate adaptation across scales: The Five R Governance Capabilities. Landscape and Urban
Planning, 154, 11-19.

Vink, M. J., Dewulf, A., & Termeer, C. (2013). The role of knowledge and power in climate change adaptation
governance: a systematic literature review. Ecology and society, 18(4).

Warner, K. (2020). Climate Justice: Who bears the burden and pays the price?. Social Alternatives, 39(2), 19-25.

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