Responding to Climate Change
UndergraduateTAS-KGA1052026
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Enrol by
- 28 June 2026
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 12 weeks
- Start dates
- 6 July 2026
- Price from
- $3,382
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Responding to Climate Change
About this subject
Upon successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- Describe policy responses to our evolving understanding of climate change.
- Assess and compare the roles of a range of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies for a sustainable future.
- Describe social, political, and economic drivers of climate change responses.
- Discuss ethical, justice-based and culturally informed perspectives on climate change.
- Introduction to climate change responses
- What progress has been made?
- Averting climate change
- Why haven't we tackled climate change?
- Social understanding of climate change
- Communicating for action on climate change
- Climate change, ethics, justice and inequality
- Our carbon footprints
- The future of energy
- Understanding future climate risk and reaction
- Nature-based solutions
- Adapting to a changing climate
- Looking to the future
The course of climate has been altered by humans. Swift but carefully considered and designed action to reduce greenhouse gases and our production of them will be essential for minimising the damage to our planet that is occurring due to a rapidly changing climate. Widespread adaptation is also required to ameliorate the impacts of changes now and into the future. In this subject, we consider why we have not acted quickly as a society so far and ask whether current economic systems based on growth are compatible with avoiding catastrophic climate change and its impacts. We also explore a range of policy and practical responses that may help us reduce the most damaging changes to Earth’s climate and associated impacts on human and natural systems. These include individual actions through to international agreements on the reduction of greenhouse gases, carbon sequestration and drawdown and alternative energy sources. Additionally, we examine social understanding of climate change and also look at climate change through the lens of ethics, justice and injustice, and investigate how indigenous knowledges can instruct us in our responses to climate change.
- Video on Adaptation and Mitigation (20%)
- Viva Voce (40%)
- Reflective Short Pieces (40%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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Entry requirements
Prior study
To help set you up for success before you start this subject, we suggest completing or having equivalent knowledge in:
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
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