Dr Richard Perkins, Dr Eugenie Dugoua and Prof Michael Mason

This course is compulsory on the MSc in Environmental Policy and Regulation and MSc in Environmental Policy, Technology and Health (Environmental Policy and Regulation) (LSE and Peking University). This course is available on the MSc in Development Studies, MSc in Environment and Development, MSc in Environmental Economics and Climate Change, MSc in Environmental Policy, Technology and Health (Environment and Development) (LSE and Peking University), MSc in Environmental Policy, Technology and Health (Environmental Economics and Climate Change) (LSE and Peking University), MSc in Local Economic Development, MSc in Regulation and MSc in Urban Policy (LSE and Sciences Po). This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

The number of students that can be accommodated is limited. If the course is over-subscribed, places will be allocated at the Department’s discretion and a waiting list may be created. For further details, please contact your relevant Programme Coordinator.

This Winter Term half unit is designed to highlight key issues in environmental governance. A basic premise of the course is that governing sustainability transitions requires us to consider environmental decision-making and action by an increasingly diverse set of actors – including private ones. The themes covered illustrate the challenges, approaches, and tools of environmental governance by these actors: governing technological change, corporate social responsibility, sustainable finance, civil regulation, and international negotiations.

10 hours of lectures and 13 hours and 30 minutes of seminars in the WT.

In the Department of Geography and Environment, teaching will be delivered through a combination of classes/seminars, pre-recorded lectures, live online lectures, in-person lectures and other supplementary interactive live activities.

This course is delivered through a combination of seminars and lectures across the Winter Term.

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

All students are required to make one presentation on an agreed topic.

While there is no one single text that covers all aspects of the course, students are advised to consult the following:

Gupta, A. and M. Mason (eds.) (2014). Transparency in Global Environmental Governance. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Martindale, W. (2023). Responsible Investment: An Insider's Account of What's Working, What's Not and Where Next. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan/Springer.

Rasche, A. et al. (eds.) (2023). Corporate Sustainability: Managing Responsible Business in a Globalised World. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Take-home assessment (100%) in the ST.