SUMMARY

The contents of this guide mirror the contents of World Ethics and Climate Change. Each chapter of the guide corresponds with the chapter of the same title in the book. Thus the first chapter of this guide is designed to assist students in understanding and learning from the first chapter of the book, the second chapter of the guide matches the second chapter of the book, and so on.

Students can choose to read chapters of World Ethics and Climate Change before consulting the Learning Guide, but many may find it useful to look over the matching chapters of the guide before they begin reading the book. Lecturers can suggest the best strategy to suit their particular courses or seminars.

GOALS

The objectives of the Learning Guide are:

(1) to enhance students’ comprehension of concepts and arguments in World Ethics and Climate Change

(2) to help students build on ideas in the book through additional thinking about its contents and by directing them to additional resources

(3) to aid students in putting ideas in the book into practice in their daily lives.

While the Learning Guide is aimed most directly at undergraduate students, it is hoped that post-graduate students and general readers will find parts of the guide useful in bolstering their understanding of the book’s contents and enabling them to appreciate how ideas in the book relate to their lives.

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION AND TEACHING MATERIALS

Learning Guide to accompany WORLD ETHICS AND CLIMATE CHANGE (Edinburgh University Press, 2010).

Download >> LearningGuide.pdf

Preface:

Part I The Challenge

  1. Global Climate Change 1
  2. Justice in a Changing World 4

Part II International Justice

  3. International Environmental Justice 7
  4. International Justice and Climate Change 10

Part III Global Justice

  5. Cosmopolitan Ethics and Justice 13
  6. Affluence, Consumption and Atmospheric Pollution 16
  7. Cosmopolitan Diplomacy and Climate Policy 19
  8. The Unavoidability of Global Justice 22

KEY POINTS

1. Scientists attribute most of the causes of climate change, and thus most of the consequences of it, to human activities.
2. Ongoing climatic changes are consequences of global warming. Natural ecosystems are already
being affected by regional temperature increases and other climatic changes.
3. Overall, the future effects of climate change in all of the world’s regions are likely to be negative,
and frequently severe.
4. As climate change increases, so too does poverty and suffering in the poorest countries and among the poorest people of the world.
5. Those people who will suffer the most from climate change are those who have contributed the
least to it.

KEY TERMS

1. Global warming
2. Climate change
3. Greenhouse gas
4. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
5. Positive feedback

TEACHING NOTES / CONTEXT FOR USE

Each chapter of the Learning Guide begins with an introductory synopsis of the corresponding chapter in World Ethics and Climate Change.

Following this synopsis, each chapter of the guide includes the following learning tools:

 Learning Objectives: A list of three to five core learning objectives intended to help guide lectures, discussions and self-study.

 Key Points: A list of five key points described or analysed in the chapter.

 Key Terms: Five key terms that can be defined by reference to the book and other sources.

 Questions: Five questions related to the book chapter that can be used in classroom discussions, as essay questions or as starting points for student research.

 Further Reading and Online Resources: Five to ten additional readings and online resources that may be useful when defining terms, answering questions and undertaking further study.

ASSESSMENT

Students who use all or most of the material in the learning guide should become much more familiar with the book’s contents, be better able to expand on ideas in the book and to critique and analyse them, be better able to build upon ideas in the book through further study, and be better able to discuss the subject of the book in an informed way with other students – and to put the book’s ideas into practice in their daily lives.

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES

Further reading and online resources are included in the guide.

SHORT DESCRIPTION

A Companion to:
World Ethics and Climate Change:From International to Global Justice
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2010
Edinburgh University

Credits:

© Paul G. Harris, 2010
Edinburgh University Press Ltd
22 George Square, Edinburgh
www.euppublishing.com
The author and publisher grant readers permission to print, copy and share this Learning
Guide for educational purposes and/or for personal use.