GD5111 Energy Inequalities and Climate Responsibilities

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Module description

The aim of this module is to introduce students to energy ethics, an analytical approach that investigates how energy practices are informed by our individual and collective understandings of ethics. What each of us deems to be right and wrong is central to how we evaluate our own and others’ energy lives and predicaments. It is thus an approach that is well-suited to nuanced, empirically grounded, and geographically attuned understandings of energy inequity and climate responsibility. This module will provide a historical thread to the most important topics in energy ethics. It will start by addressing the colonial legacies that continue to inform how we produce, distribute, and consume energy as well as manage maintenance and waste materials. Introducing the geopolitics of energy, it will explore energy access in displacement settings where refugees, host communities and aid organisations are challenged to integrate sustainable energy solutions into the humanitarian programme cycle.

Intended learning outcomes

• Demonstrate knowledge of key concepts in the field of energy ethics and in-depth understanding of key issues relating to energy inequalities, climate responsibilities, and energy challenges
• Engage critically with a range of academic and non-academic sources to build and present well-evidenced and clearly articulated arguments
• Develop energy scenarios suitable for submission within industry and policy frameworks
• Apply skills in systemic approaches to problem-solving
• Work effectively and collaboratively in a team to co-create outputs