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This is a compulsory module for the MSc Environment, Politics and Society programme that focuses on environmental geopolitics. Classical geopolitics emphasised the role of the natural environment in shaping the outcomes of state-based politics, frequently conceiving of the relation between the environment and geopolitics in a determinist way. The dismissal of this approach by academic geography in the latter 20th century led to a de-materialization of geopolitics as scholars increasingly focused on political discourse. Today, however, there is renewed interest in environmental geopolitics, forging a new material ‘geo-politics’, which considers how the earth, the sea, and the atmosphere are geopolitically significant. Topics to be discussed in the course include the geopolitics of climate change, mining and fossil fuel extraction, chemical pollution and waste, and transnational environmental policy and politics.

The course aims are:

- To trace recent theoretical developments in the field around issues of power, change, and the environment.
- To ground that theoretical understanding in a longer historical trajectory of thought around the role of the environment in geopolitics.
- To demonstrate the utility of these theoretical developments through an examination of specific areas of environmental policy that are relevant to current events.

The primary career skills developed on this module include:ÌýCritical thinking: ability to assess data and ideas, Time management: organisation and planning of work, *General ICT competence, and *Other digital skills – e.g. podcasts / online videos, web designs, app development.

The module content is refreshed each year in order to keep up with fast moving debates and research agendas.

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