Dr Kerryn Brent
Course Coordinator & Senior Lecturer
Adelaide Law School, Ligertwood Building, Room 311
Ph: 08 8313 2878
kerryn.brent@adelaide.edu.au  
Please contact me by email

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Explain the development of climate change law and policy from an international and Australian context.
2. Critically reflect on the range of social, political, ethical, economic and ecological factors that influence climate change law, policy, and decision-making.
3. Conduct legal research and generate a medium length research essay.
4. Demonstrate oral communication skills and collaboration by discussing and debating theoretical propositions, methodologies and legal problems related to climate change.
5. Apply climate change law to complex issues, and critique the law from a practical perspective, either individually or as part of a team.

There are no required texts in this course. Students will, however, need to be able to access a number of international agreements such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Kyoto-Protocol, the 2015 Paris Agreement and other pieces of Commonwealth and state legislation used during part of the course, in particular, on a range of areas such as emission reductions and trading schemes, renewable energy targets, carbon pricing mechanisms, energy conservation, and energy efficiency. These can be found online through the various United Nations and government websites.

TEXT BOOK(S)

There are no recent general textbooks on climate change law specific to the laws in Australia and South Australia, although Alexander Zahar, Jacqueline Peel and Lee Godden's 2012 book provides excellent general introduction to the range of issues that are commonly addressed in the Australian context. Alexander Zahar, Jacqueline Peel and Lee Godden, Australian Climate Law in Global Context
(Cambridge University Press, 2012).

For a comprehensive overview of international climate change law, see Daniel Bodansky, Jutta Brunnée, and Lavanya Rajamani, International Climate Change Law (Oxford University Press, 2017); Benoit Mayer, The International Law on Climate Change (Cambridge University Press, 2018).

For a general textbook on environmental law in Australia, see Lee Godden, Jacqueline Peel & Jan McDonald, Environmental Law (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed, 2019).

OTHER REFERENCES

Other reference that students may find useful: Daniel Klein et al. (eds), The Paris Agreement on Climate Chnage (OUP, 2017); Daniel Farber and Marjan Peeters (eds), Climate Change Law (Edward Elgar, 2016).  

The Law Library’s website contains links for conducting legal research, both primary sources (legislation and case law) and secondary sources (articles and books), at http://law.adelaide.edu.au/library/research/

For journal articles, the Law Library’s link is: http://law.adelaide.edu.au/library/research/journals/

For legislation, the Law Library’s link is: http://law.adelaide.edu.au/library/research/legislation/

Recommended internet sites for legislation, which can also be accessed through the Law Library’s website are: â–ª Commonwealth of Australia Law (ComLaw) - http://www.comlaw.gov.au/  â–ª South Australian Legislation – http://www.legislation.sa.gov.au

MyUni will be used for communication and as a discussion board. Specifically, it will be utilised to post announcements, post lecture materials (including slides, and lecture recordings of lectures) and announce assignment tasks. It will also contain electronic copies of the Course Profile, Lecture and Seminar Guides, and Course Materials. Students are expected to check MyUni regularly to keep up to date with these materials and additional learning resources throughout the course.

The Climate Change Law course has a value of 3 units and will involve three hours of teaching activities each week, being a two-hour lecture and a one-hour seminar. 

The course requires a combined weekly commitment of 3 hours attending lectures or a total of 36 hours of formal class time across the semester. In addition to the time spent attending the lectures, there is a requirement that students prepare for the lectures. To actively and productively participate, students will have to do reading and preparation. Students should expect to spend 6-7
hours per week doing this. Approximately 10-15 hours should be spent on the annotated bibliography and 30-50 hours should be spent on the research essay.

A schedule of topics will be provided through MyUni before Week 1 of the course.

Topics that may be covered include:

	Climate change science
	The international climate change regime, including UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement
	Climate change risk and litigation
	Climate change adaptation
	Climate justice
	Climate change and the oceans
	Climate change and biodiversity
	National climate change law and policy at a Commonwealth and state level
	Climate intervention (i.e. carbon dioxide removal and solar radiation management)
	Climate change and energy, including carbon taxes, emissions trading, renewable energy, energy conservation, energy efficiency

Assessment Task	Task Type	Due	Weighting	Length	Redeemable	Learning Outcomes
Seminar pariticipation	Individual	Students allocated one week during semester	10%		No	1, 2, 4, 5
Annotated bibliography and essay plan	Individual	10am Tuesday Week 6	30%	1500 words	No	1, 2, 5
Research Essay	Individual	10am Tuesday SWOT Week	60%	3000 words	No	1, 2, 3, 5
Total			100%

Seminar Participation
In seminars, students are expected to participate in group discussions and activities, and actively contribute to the class.  Students will be allocated one seminar week during semester which they will a seminar leader. There may be multiple seminar leaders per week. Seminar leaders will be expected to lead discussions and activities, and may be called upon specifically to answer questions. Students will be evaluated on the quality of their engagement and contributions for the week in which they are a seminar leader.

Annotated Bibliography and Essay Plan
Students are to select a research question from the list provide that will form the basis of their major essay. For this task, students are to research and review literature relating to their chosen question and produce an annotated bibliography that summarises and evaluates key sources. Students are also to submit an essay plan.  This task is due 10am Tuesday in week 6.

Research Essay
For the major essay, students will undertake a substantial amount of independent research that follows on from their annotated bibliography and essay plan. This task is due 10am Tuesday in SWOTVAC.

All assessments will be submitted and monitored through text or code comparative software (e.g. Turnitin) where possible.

The annotated bibliography and essay must be submitted electronically to Turnitin on My Uni on the due date. Students must retain a copy of the annotated bibliography and essay submitted.

Penalty for Late Submission

When an assessment is submitted after the due date, without an extension, 5% of the total mark possible will be deducted for every 24 hours or part thereof that it is late, including each day on a weekend and public holidays. For example, an essay that is submitted after the due date and time but within the first 24 hour period, and that has been graded at 63%, will have 5% deducted, for a final grade of 58%. An essay that is more than 24 hours late will lose 10%, etc.

Penalty for Exceeding Stipulated Word Length

5% of the total mark possible for a written assessment will be deducted for every 100 words (or part thereof) by which it exceeds a stipulated word limit. For example, a 4000 word essay graded at 63% will have 5% deducted if it is between 4001 and 4100 words long for a final mark of 58%. If the essay is between 4101 and 4200 words long, 10% will be deducted for a final mark of 53%, etc. Word limits include all words in the text, in headings, in quotations, but exclude citations in footnotes. Any separate cover page, table of contents, bibliography or list of sources is excluded from the word limit. If the word limit is misstated, this may be regarded as academic dishonesty.

Finality of Assessment Grades

Students are advised that Course Coordinators will not enter into negotiations of any kind with any student regarding changes to their grades. It is irrelevant, in any given circumstance, that only a minimal number of additional marks are required to inflate a student’s grade for any individual assessment item or course as a whole. Pursuant to the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policyand the Adelaide Law School Assessment Policies and Procedures, grades may only be varied through the appropriate channels for academic review (such as an official re-mark).

Moderation

In accordance with the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, course coordinators ‘ensure that appropriate marking guidelines and cross-marking moderation processes across markers are in place’ in each course. Procedures adopted by Adelaide Law School to ensure consistency of marking in courses with multiple markers include:

*assurance of the qualifications of markers, and their knowledge of the content covered in each course;
*detailed marking guidelines and assessment rubrics to assist in the marking of items of assessment;
*sharing of example marked assessments at various grade bands across markers;
*reviewing of selected marked assessments from each marker by the course coordinator;
*comparison of the marks and their distribution across markers;
*automatic double-marking of all interim assessment receiving a fail grade, and of final assessments where a student’s overall result is a fail grade;
*the availability of re-marking of assessments in accordance with Adelaide Law School’s Assessment Policies and Procedures.

Approval of Results by Board of Examiners

Students are reminded that all assessment results are subject to approval (and possible moderation/change) by the Law School’s Board of Examiners. Assessment results at the University are not scaled. Under the Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, students are assessed ‘by reference to their performance against pre-determined criteria and standards … and not by ranking against the performance of the student cohort in the course’. However, under that same policy, the Board of Examiners (as the relevant Assessment Review Committee for courses at Adelaide Law School) is required to ‘ensure comparability of standards and consistency’ in assessment. On occasions, the Board of Examiners will form the view that some moderation is required to ensure the comparability of standards and consistency across courses and years, and accordingly provide fairness to all law students. All assessment results are therefore subject to approval (and possible change) until confirmed by the Board of Examiners and posted on Access Adelaide at the end of each semester.

Student feedback The course is constantly being updated and revised to reflect the evolution of the law, to respond to student feedback, and to engage with the latest teaching practices. Student feedback is collected each time the course is run, including through SELT reports. Previous SELT reports, and staff feedback on them, are posted on the course MyUni site for students to view and consider.

The University Writing Centre provides academic learning and language development services and resources for local, international, undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students enrolled at the University of Adelaide.

The centre offers practical advice and strategies for students to master reading, writing, note-taking, time management, oral presentation skills, referencing techniques and exam preparation for success at university through seminars, workshops and individual consultations.

Lex Salus Program

Lex Salus (law and wellbeing) is an initiative of the Adelaide Law School aimed at destigmatising mental health issues; promoting physical, mental and emotional wellness; building a strong community of staff and students; and celebrating diversity within the school. It also seeks to promote wellness within the legal profession, through the involvement of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia, the Honourable Chris Kourakis, as the official Patron of the program.

Students can participate in the Lex Salus program by attending barbecue lunches, pancake breakfasts, knitting and crochet circles, seminars, guest speakers, conferences and other activities. Our Facebook page, website and regular all-student emails promote upcoming events, and have tips and information on wellness.

Our Lex Salus YouTube channel also includes videos on topics like managing stress, and interviews with LGBTQ lawyers and their supporters which celebrate diversity and individuality. Students who commit to 10 hours of volunteering with Lex Salus in one year can have their service recognised on their academic transcript and through a thank you morning tea with the Chief Justice and law school staff.

Student Life Counselling Support

The University’s Student Life Counselling Support service provides free and confidential service to all enrolled students. We encourage you to contact the Student Life Counselling Support service on 8313 5663 to make an appointment to deal with any issues that may be affecting your study and life.

Academic Integrity

All students must be familiar with the University’s Academic Integrity Policy. Academic Misconduct is a serious matter and is treated as such by the Law School and the University. Academic Misconduct (which goes beyond plagiarism) can be a ground for a refusal by the Supreme Court of South Australia to admit a person to practice as a legal practitioner in South Australia. Academic Integrity is an essential aspect of ethical and honest behaviour, which is central to the practice of the law and an understanding of what it is to be a lawyer.