Climate Change: Policy, Media and Society DC669

Climate change is growing ever more central to politics, policymaking, planning, business, and civil society, both in terms of mitigating our impact on the climate, and building resilience to current and future climate impacts through adaptation. At a global level, the Paris Agreement on climate change, agreed at COP21 in Paris in December 2015, set a pathway towards full decarbonisation of the global economy in the second half of this century. The challenges posed by climate change are partly technical and scientific, but they are also profoundly political, institutional, and societal. According to Dr. Youba Sokona, former Vice-Chair of the UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “It is technically feasible to transition to a low-carbon economy … but what is lacking are appropriate policies and institutions”. The MSc in Climate Change: Policy, Media and Society interrogates how societies are responding to climate change, and how that response can be strengthened. It is the only master’s programme in Ireland focused on climate change that adopts a social science and humanities perspective on this challenge. It brings together DCU’s unique strengths in the study of climate change governance and law, communications and media, societal transitions, and education. Students take core modules on climate change policy and governance, EU and national climate change law, climate change and the media, the physical science basis of climate change, and climate change and societal transition, as well as choosing from a range of optional modules. Students also undertake research methods training and write a dissertation. The programme is open to both full-time and part-time applicants. Full time students take the programme over one year, while part time students take the programme over two years. Classes are scheduled one day a week from 14:00 onwards to facilitate part time students