Prof Kathy Hochstetler

This course is available on the MSc in Accounting, Organisations and Institutions, MSc in Anthropology and Development, MSc in China in Comparative Perspective, MSc in Culture, Justice, and Environment, MSc in Development Management (Political Economy), MSc in Development Management (Political Economy) (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in Development Studies, MSc in Economic Policy for International Development, MSc in Environmental Policy and Regulation, MSc in Environmental Policy, Technology and Health (Environmental Policy and Regulation) (LSE and Peking University), MSc in Health and International Development, MSc in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies, MSc in Political Economy of Late Development, MSc in Political Science (Global Politics), MSc in Public Policy and Administration and MSc in Regulation. This course is freely available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. It does not require permission. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process. For information on controlled access courses, including eligibility, application processes, deadlines, and departmental contact details, please refer to the Controlled Access Courses webpage.

How to apply: Places will be allocated with priority to ID and joint-degree students. If there are more ID and joint-degree students than can be accommodated, these places will be allocated randomly. Non-ID/Joint Degree students will be allocated to spare places by random selection with the preference given first to those degrees where the regulations permit this option.

Deadline for application: You should make your request to take ID courses by 12 noon Friday 25 September 2026.

You will be informed of the outcome by 12 noon Monday 28 September 2026.

Students do not need to write a statement to apply for this course.

This course is for any MSc student who wishes to study the politics of global environmental policy from the perspective of environmental governance and international development. The aim is to summarise debates about ‘global’ environmental problems and to review the contributions of debates about ‘governance’ to political solutions. The main theoretical focus of the course is on understanding the evolution of environmental policy regimes at multiple scales and with multiple actors. The guiding empirical focus is on the roles of developing countries in global environmental governance and the effects of environmental policy regimes on their development strategies and outcomes. Some of this draws upon debates within International Relations, but this course also considers other theoretical literatures about environmental politics. A major theme of the course is the relationship between environmental politics and the growth debate: whether developing countries should and are able to prioritize conventional GDP growth, green growth, or degrowth strategies. Only part of global environmental governance takes place in formal spheres specifically devoted to environmental topics. Thus, while about half the course focuses on global efforts to solve environmental problems, especially in international negotiations, the other half examines economic institutions like trade and financial institutions and their intersections with environment and development concerns. Non-state actors including business actors and civil society actors are also considered. Finally, while the course has a global focus, the environmental politics within nation-states is increasingly important for global outcomes and is considered here.

To make the course focused, it considers primarily climate change, biodiversity and forests, and human movement in response to environmental change.

A detailed reading list will be presented at the beginning of the term. Because students typically come from multiple backgrounds and MSc programmes, care is taken to offer readings that include background information about the topics and theories.

15 hours of seminars and 15 hours of lectures in the Winter Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.

This course is delivered through a combination of lectures and seminars in the WT. Seminars will be 90 minutes in duration and lectures will be 90 minutes in duration.

Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6.

Essay.

Students will be expected to produce, one, 1500 word essay in the WT

Course participation (10%).

Essay (90%, 2000 words).

2 questions of 2000 words each.