Students

LAWS5043 – Climate Change Law

2022 – Session 2, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor
Paul Govind
paul.govind@mq.edu.au
Contact via Through iLearn
6 First Walk (6FW) Office 617
Tuesday 2 - 3pm or by appointment
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
(130cp in LAW or LAWS units) or (130cp including LAWS259 or LAWS2000)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

Climate change is the outstanding environmental issue of our time. This is a specialised unit that analyses law and policy relevant to managing the problems presented by climate change. Both the causes and impacts of climate change are pervasive and present significant challenges to conventional legal approaches. The unit investigates the role of law in driving society’s response from the international law level through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Paris Agreement, to federal and state responses in terms of both legislation and judicial decisions to local scale actions. At each jurisdictional level, focus is given to law that relates to the major pillars of climate policy – mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental bio-physical concepts of climate change, including its causes and impacts in the Anthropocene epoch, as a basis for understanding of the climate law framework
  • ULO2: Identify and understand the challenges of managing environmental change in a context of uncertainty and how scientific information is translated into law
  • ULO3: Critically analyse the history, current operation and future growth of the international climate law regime, recognizing the different perspectives of relevant groups of nation states
  • ULO4: Analyse climate change law/policy and climate litigation law in Australia and overseas, to assist with critical evaluation of the effectiveness of law as a tool to assist improved climate governance across mitigation, adaptation and loss or damage
  • ULO5: Develop engagement with justice/ethical considerations particular to the field of climate change and climate change law to help understand why problems may be resolved through using multiple disciplinary perspectives

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Analytical Research Essay 40% No 9 September 2022 - 11:55pm
Reflective paper of learning experience 10% No 7 October 2022 - 11:55pm
Report on status of climate law 50% No 3 November 2022 - 11:55pm

Analytical Research Essay

Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 35 hours
Due: 9 September 2022 - 11:55pm
Weighting: 40%

 

Students will prepare a research essay that analyses a topic relating to climate law.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental bio-physical concepts of climate change, including its causes and impacts in the Anthropocene epoch, as a basis for understanding of the climate law framework
  • Critically analyse the history, current operation and future growth of the international climate law regime, recognizing the different perspectives of relevant groups of nation states
  • Develop engagement with justice/ethical considerations particular to the field of climate change and climate change law to help understand why problems may be resolved through using multiple disciplinary perspectives

Reflective paper of learning experience

Assessment Type 1: Reflective Writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: 7 October 2022 - 11:55pm
Weighting: 10%

 

Students will write and submit a reflective paper on what they have learnt through the unit

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental bio-physical concepts of climate change, including its causes and impacts in the Anthropocene epoch, as a basis for understanding of the climate law framework
  • Develop engagement with justice/ethical considerations particular to the field of climate change and climate change law to help understand why problems may be resolved through using multiple disciplinary perspectives

Report on status of climate law

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 3 November 2022 - 11:55pm
Weighting: 50%

 

Students will submit a report on recent developments in the area of climate law legalisation/policy or judicial decisions

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Identify and understand the challenges of managing environmental change in a context of uncertainty and how scientific information is translated into law
  • Critically analyse the history, current operation and future growth of the international climate law regime, recognizing the different perspectives of relevant groups of nation states
  • Analyse climate change law/policy and climate litigation law in Australia and overseas, to assist with critical evaluation of the effectiveness of law as a tool to assist improved climate governance across mitigation, adaptation and loss or damage

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Classes:

Lecture material will be delivered each week. Please note that some smaller lectures might be delivered later in the week following the main lecture - though the weekly allocation will not exceed two hours per week in total. 

Tutorials are weekly and begin in Week 1.

Classes will be delivered using various combinations of online and face to face delivery.

Lectures will be exclusively online and recorded and uploaded using Zoom.

Weekly tutorials will either be face to face or online. Please ensure that you check the designation of each tutorial (either online to face to face) before you enrol and select your preference. Zoom invitations will be sent to all students in the online tutorials in the week prior to the commencement of Session 2, 2022.

A tutorial guide includling questions, tasks, discussion points etc will be available on iLearn in the week prior to commencement of Session 2, 2022.

Attendance is mandatory. 

Readings and materials:

There is no prescribed text book for this unit. 

The Reading List will be available on the iLearn page and through Leganto in the week prior to the commencement of Session 2, 2022.

Readings are to be undertaken weekly in preparation of tutorials. 

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Late Assessment Submission Penalty  

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a mark of ‘0’ (zero) will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical issue.    

This late penalty will apply to non-timed sensitive assessment (incl essays, reports, posters, portfolios, journals, recordings etc). Late submission of time sensitive tasks (such as tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, scheduled practical assessments/labs etc) will only be addressed by the unit convenor as part of a Special Consideration application. The Special Consideration outcome may result in a new question or topic. 

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Unit information based on version 2022.03 of the Handbook