Environment, Population and Development

Course Organization

Professor:
Ellen Wiegandt

• Death of Dr. Wiegandt
• Information on whether or not the course will be offered, and if so, by whom, will be posted later.

Course Description

Ongoing efforts to construct an international regime on climate change (the Framework Convention on Climate Change and its associated Kyoto Protocol) include discussion and debate about the differences between developed and developing countries. This course examines the special vulnerabilities of developing countries in the face of global warming through a focus on institutional structures regulating resource use, particularly property rights and demographic regimes. The emphasis of the course is on population dynamics but seen in the context of resource questions, thus making an explicit link to the environmental and climate change. Institutional factors that shape population processes are a particular focus of the course. For example, property rights are seen as a fundamental mechanism controlling the use and distribution of natural resources. In turn, population dynamics are also studied in terms of their role in determining the demand for resources. This approach leads to the discussion of sustainable development, North-South relations (including trade and migration) and their impact on global environmental negotiations.