Unit Outline

Climate change poses enormous challenges for Australia and the international community. The level of warming already in the climate system means that law and policymakers must deal with dual policy imperatives – to manage the now-unavoidable impacts of climate change, whilst also avoiding the unmanageable impacts of further warming. There is also increasing recognition that there will be impacts ‘beyond adaptation’, that must be compensated for. This unit examines responses to these imperatives of climate change mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, and intervention at the international, national and local levels. It is designed to help students understand the fundamentals of international and domestic climate law and policy, in order to provide a platform for further engagement or research in the field. Its approach is cross-disciplinary, comparative, and analytical. The unit does not aspire to be comprehensive in its coverage of every issue, but aims to introduce students to key concepts and the range of issues presented by this dynamic policy field.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

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


1	Describe and explain the causes and likely impacts of climate change and the range of strategies available to mitigate, adapt to, compensate for, and postpone its effects.
2	Describe and explain the key elements of the national and international climate law regime, including division of powers, legal and regulatory tools.
3	Critically evaluate the social, political, ethical, economic and ecological factors that influence the development and implementation of climate law and policy nationally and internationally.
4	Effectively communicate orally and in writing on issues relating to climate change law and policy.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	50 credit points of Introductory units - to do this unit it is recommended that you have completed LAW107
Anti-requisite (mutual excl)	LAW656

Alterations as a result of student feedback

Changes to teaching mode, assessment and content.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Assessment Task 3: Class participation	See the MyLO site for the due date	10 %	LO4
Assessment Task 2:	Assessment Task 1: Test	See the MyLO site for the due date	20 %	LO1, LO2
Assessment Task 3:	Assessment Task 2: Leading class discussion (group work)	See the MyLO site for the due date	30 %	LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 4:	Assessment Task 4: Exam	Exam Period	40 %	LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Assessment Task 3: Class participation

Task Description:

Class participation (weekly)

Task Length:

Participation will be based on student contributions to class discussions across the semester. The mark will be arrived at by averaging each student's top 7 weeks of contributions.

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

10 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Class participation	LO4

Assessment Task 2: Assessment Task 1: Test

Task Description:

Test - short answer questions demonstrating student understanding of core concepts

Task Length:

40 minutes

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Identification of correct answer	LO1, LO2

Assessment Task 3: Assessment Task 2: Leading class discussion (group work)

Task Description:

Working in groups, students will have an opportunity to prepare and present a debate on a topical aspects of climate change law and policy. These debates will be staggered across the semester to enable students to select a topic that interests them and a time that suits them. The class will have an opportunity to provide peer feedback to the teams on both substance, structure and presentation quality.

Task Length:

1. 500 word written summary of argument (per student) 2. 5-8 minute oral presentation 3. Brief Oral questions/comments or 200 words written feedback to at least one other group

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Ability to explain applicable law and policy	LO2
2	Ability to research and develop arguments to support a position in respect of a topical climate law issue	LO3
3	Ability to work with a group to understand an issue and divide the workload fairly and effectively	LO4
4	Ability to ask questions and provide constructive feedback to other groups	LO3, LO4

Assessment Task 4: Assessment Task 4: Exam

Task Description:

Exam, held in person under invigilated exam conditions, with limited permissible materials

Task Length:

2 hours

Due Date:

Exam Period

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Understanding relevant principles of climate law	LO2, LO3, LO4
2	Ability to explain the particular aspects of or application of aspects of international or national climate law to specific real-world problems	LO2, LO3, LO4

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.