Prof Robert Falkner

This course is available on the MSc in International Affairs (LSE and Peking University), MSc in International Political Economy, MSc in International Political Economy (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in International Political Economy (Research), MSc in International Relations (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in Political Science (Global Politics), MSc in Political Science (Political Science and Political Economy) and MSc in Regulation. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. 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.

All International Relations (IR4) optional courses at LSE are Controlled Access and require an application via LfY. Students must include a statement in their LfY application of no more than 200 words explaining their interest in the course and its relevance to their academic and career goals.

Application deadline: 12:00 noon, Friday 26 September 2025.

Notification of outcome: by 12:00 noon, Monday 29 September 2025.

After this date, students should consult the MSc Course Availability Spreadsheet for remaining spaces on IR4-level courses. 

For further details, see the LSE Selecting Courses webpage in the first instance or contact IR.Programmes@lse.ac.uk only if necessary.

All students are required to obtain permission from the Teacher Responsible by completing the online application form linked to course selection on LSE for You. Admission is not guaranteed.

This course has a limited number of places (it is controlled access) and demand is typically high.

Mutually exclusive courses:

This course cannot be taken with EU4B2 at any time on the same degree programme.

The course explores the political economy of the global environment, that is the ways in which politics and the economy interact to shape environmental outcomes at the national, regional and global level. It examines the main actors and institutions (firms, consumers, activists, states, international organisations) that seek to influence global environmental management and considers their interaction in key economic areas, including international trade, finance, investment and energy. Integrating concepts and ideas from global political economy, international relations and environmental economics, it focuses on critical debates on green growth versus degrowth, the role of environmental markets, the greening of production and consumption, and the role of the state in directing the green economic transition. While the emphasis is on conceptual perspectives and debates, the global challenge of climate change alongside other global environmental threats will feature prominently throughout the course. 

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.

10 lectures and 10 seminars on the following topics: 

• Introduction 
• Growth 
• Markets 
• Production 
• Consumption 
• States 
• Trade  
• Foreign Investment 
• Finance
• Energy

Mock e-Exam Week 7 (1 hour). The mock exam will simulate the summative e-Exam and students will receive feedback to support their preparation for the summative. 

• Allan, B. B. and J. Nahm (2025). "Strategies of Green Industrial Policy: How States Position Firms in Global Supply Chains." American Political Science Review 119(1): 420-434.  
• Brandi, C. and J.-F. Morin (2023). Trade and the Environment: Drivers and Effects of Environmental Provisions in Trade Agreements, Cambridge University Press.  
• Clapp, J. and P. Dauvergne (2011). Paths to a Green World: The Political Economy of the Global Environment. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press.  
• Dotzauer, M., L. Biber-Freudenberger and T. Dietz (2024). "The Rise of Sustainability Provisions in International Investment Agreements." Global Environmental Politics 24(4): 10-36. 
• Falkner, R. (2026). Green Political Economy. Cambridge: Polity.
• Fuchs, Doris, et al. (2021). Consumption corridors: Living a good life within sustainable limits. London: Routledge.  
• Kallis, Giorgos. (2018). Degrowth. Newcastle: Agenda Publishing.  
• Kedward, K., D. Gabor and J. Ryan-Collins (2024). "Carrots with (out) sticks: credit policy and the limits of green central banking." Review of International Political Economy: 1-25.  
• Nahm, Jonas. (2021). Collaborative Advantage: Forging Green Industries in the New Global Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Newell, P. (2021). Power shift: The global political economy of energy transitions, Cambridge University Press. 
• Newell, Peter, & Paterson, Matthew. (2010). Climate Capitalism: Global Warming and the Transformation of the Global Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Exam (100%), duration: 120 Minutes in the Spring exam period.