A short video titled ‘Marxist theory: Relevant to climate change today?’ by Graham Murdock, Loughborough University, that discusses the impact of capitalism on climate change. Murdock discusses Marx’s commentary on the breakdown of the relationship of humans with nature due the industrialization of agricultural practices.
Students will learn the foundations of Marx’s theory of Capitalism and its historical development and capitalism’s influence on climate change. They will also learn about how rapid industrialization and capitalism have contributed to global warming. They will further learn how Marx’s analysis on ecology could also provide the solutions to problems in the context of climate change
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
What are Marx’s main tenets about Capitalism?
What are Marx’s fundamental problems with Capitalism?
Discuss how industrialization and capitalism have contributed to global warming.
About the tool
Tool Name
Marxist theory: Relevant to climate change today?
Discipline
Economics, Social Sciences
Topic(s) in Discipline
Marxism, Marxist Theory of Capitalism, Marx, Capitalism, Political Science
Climate Topic
Energy, Economics and Climate Change, Policies, Politics and Environmental Governance
A music album titled ‘The Rap Guide To Climate Chaos’ by Baba Brinkman that contains 24 tracks on climate change. The album discusses the science, politics and economics of climate change. The tracks cover a variety of topics such as greenhouse gases, carbon emissions, climate taxes and green capitalism.
Tracks include – Options, I.P.C.C., Keep It Positive, Greenhouse (feat. Aaron Nazrul), Party Don’t Stop, Run the Joules, Mo Carbon Mo Problems, What’s Beef (feat. Bill Nye), Battle Lines, Lost in the Numbers, Bright Side, Fossil Fuel Ballers (feat. Aaron Nazrul), Exxon Knew, Laudato Si, Yank the Plug, Make It Hot, Regulators, Carbon Bubble (feat. Mariella), Stranded Assets, Ride Electric (feat. Fand), This or That, Freedom Ain’t Free, Stand Up, Makin’ Waves (feat. Gaia’s Eye)
In songs such as ‘IPCC’, Brinkman addresses the findings of the committee and even internal disagreements on projections. On songs such as ‘Greenhouse’, he takes the listener through a sonic journey of development including the greenhouse effect, predicted rise in global temperatures from Svante’s study and puts them alongside the findings of the IPCC and its accuracy. He critiques his own consumption and the paradox of being unable to individually contribute to reducing the impact of climate change without large scale policy reforms. Brinkman speaks extensively about cap and trade vs climate taxes, and the ecological debt that richer countries owe the marginalized. The album also focuses on Exxon’s failures and lies.
Note that the album is available for purchase at the link above.
The tracks are available for free viewing on YouTube as part of Baba Brinkman’s performance for ‘Talks At Google’. This free resource can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1ZH6R3Idb4&t=759s
Students will learn about the topic of climate change through music and learn about its current impacts. They will also learn about the important stakeholders in climate change politics and how climate change politics plays a huge role in the development of the global economy. Students will further learn about how music can be used to discuss science based topics in order to better understand them.
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
What is climate change? Discuss the various perceptions of climate change
Discuss climate change topics and the politics underlying the problem
What is the role of fossil fuel burning in the warming of the planet?
What is green capitalism?
About the tool
Tool Name
The Rap Guide To Climate Chaos
Discipline
Humanities
Topic(s) in Discipline
Climate Change, Music, Rap, Hip-Hop
Climate Topic
Introduction to Climate Change, Climate and the Anthrosphere, Energy, Economics and Climate Change
A microlecture that describes the photoelectric effect and how it works with respect to greenhouse gases. This video by Shohini Ghose for TEDxVictoria describes how light and matter possess energy and how the transfer of this energy occurs between different bodies.
Students will learn briefly about the discovery of the photoelectric effect and its relevance to quantum physics. They will further be introduced to various technologies, such as solar cells, which utilize this phenomenon and how they may help combat global warming.
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
Describe the photoelectric effect.
Describe the greenhouse effect.
Discuss the various technologies discussed in the video that utilize the photoelectric effect that may help combat global warming.
About the tool
Tool Name
How Quantum Physics Can Help Us Fight Climate Change
Discipline
Physics, Earth Sciences
Topic(s) in Discipline
Quantum Physics, Photoelectric Effect, Photons, Wavelengths of Light, Visible Light, Infrared Radiation, Greenhouse Effect, Solar Cells, Quantum Entanglement
Climate Topic
Climate and the Atmosphere; Energy, Economics and Climate Change; Climate Mitigation and Adaptation
A teaching manual for instructors that integrates sustainability themes with mathematics topics for courses or projects in algebra, pre-calculus, or math for liberal arts.
A classroom/ laboratory activity titled, ‘Country Photovoltaic Energy Production’ from Sustainability Math by Thomas J. Pfaff, Ithaca College, USA, to teach differentiating functions – logistic and exponential, using a hands-on computer-based classroom activity that includes data of photovoltaic (solar) energy production of several countries from 1990 to 2016.
This data is provided in an Excel spreadsheet. The classroom activity also includes a Word document that contains directions on how to use different mathematical methods on the data provided.
Students will learn how to apply their understanding of logistic and exponential functions and apply the Quotient (or Product) Rule to describe the rates of increase of photovoltaic energy production over time in several countries such as Germany, Italy, and USA, amongst others, in recent times.
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
What are differentiating functions?
Distinguish between logarithmic, exponential, and logistic differentiating functions.
How has the rate of global solar energy production changed since 1990?
How do the rates of solar energy production in select countries (from the given datasets) differ from that of the World?
Discuss how the use of photovoltaic energy can be a viable alternative to fossil fuels to combat global warming.
About the Tool
Tool Name
Country Photovoltaic Energy Production
Discipline
Mathematics and Statistics
Topic(s) in Discipline
Logarithmic, Exponential, Logistic Differentiating Functions, Quotient or Product Rule
Climate Topic
Energy, Economics and Climate Change; Climate Mitigation and Adaptation
A classroom/ laboratory activity titled, ‘Wind Energy by Selected Countries and World’ from Sustainability Math by Thomas J. Pfaff, Ithaca College, USA, to teach polynomial and logistic differentiation using a hands-on computer-based classroom activity that includes wind energy production data of several countries from 1980 to 2016.
This data is provided in an Excel spreadsheet.The classroom activity also includes a Word document that contains directions on how to use different mathematical methods on the data provided.
Students will learn how to apply their understanding of polynomial and logistic differentiation and apply the Quotient (or Product) Rule to describe the rates of increase of wind energy production over time in countries such as China, Spain, USA, and the World.
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
What are differentiating functions?
Describe polynomial and logistic differentiation using examples.
How has the rate of global wind energy production changed since 1980?
How do the rates of wind energy production in select countries (from the given datasets) differ from that of the World?
Discuss how the use of wind energy can be a viable alternative to fossil fuels to combat global warming.
About the Tool
Tool Name
Wind Energy by Selected Countries and World
Discipline
Mathematic and Statistics,
Topic(s) in Discipline
Polynomial and Logistic Differentiation, Quotient or Product Rule
Climate Topic
Energy, Economics and Climate Change; Climate Mitigation and Adaptation; Climate Variability Record
A classroom/ laboratory activity titled, ‘World Petroleum Consumption’ from Sustainability Math by Thomas J. Pfaff, Ithaca College, USA, to teach integration using a hands-on computer-based classroom activity that includes world petroleum consumption data from 1980 to 2016
This data is provided in an Excel spreadsheet. The classroom activity also includes a Word document that contains directions on how to use different mathematical methods on the data provided.
Students will learn how to apply their understanding of the relationship between a function and its integral and to set up and solve equations with an integral to describe the trend of world petroleum consumption over time. Additionally, they will also be able to answer how this global petroleum consumption is responsible for carbon emissions that have contributed towards post-industrial age global warming.
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
What is the relationship between a function and its integral?
How has the world petroleum consumption changed since 1980?
About the Tool
Tool Name
World Petroleum Consumption
Discipline
Mathematics and Statistics
Topic(s) in Discipline
Integration, Integral Function, Function
Climate Topic
Energy, Economics and Climate Change; Climate Mitigation and Adaptation
A video micro lecture by David Archer, The University of Chicago, titled ‘The Economics of Climate Change’ which is a part of an e-learning course on science and modelling of climate change. This video discusses the ‘tragedy of commons’ to understand how climate change impacts society. The lecture also introduces concepts like ‘external cost’, ‘internal cost’, ‘carbon tax’ and ‘cap and trade’ when discussing carbon emissions and pollution. Archer discusses the advantages of using economic mechanisms to ensure carbon emissions are controlled.
Students will be introduced to the basic economics of climate change. They will also learn about the advantages of various economic schemes that can help ensure reduced carbon emissions and control environmental damage. Students will further learn about the ethical concerns that arise in the debate between the cost of climate change and the cost of mitigating climate change.
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
What is the ‘tragedy of commons’?
Discuss the economics of climate change.
Discuss the ethical concerns that arise due to climate change mitigation policies.
About the tool
Tool Name
The Economics of Climate Change from ‘Week 12: Mitigations’ of ‘Global Warming I: The Science and Modeling of Climate Change’ Coursera Course
Discipline
Economics
Topic(s) in Discipline
Climate Change Economics, Tragedy of the Commons, External Cost, Carbon Tax, Cap and Trade, Carbon Emissions
Climate Topic
Energy, Economics and Climate Change; Climate Mitigation and Adaptation
This video lecture by William Nordhaus on the economics of climate change. This is a comprehensive video on the impacts of climate change and its effect on the economy, along with a focus on economic policy for climate mitigation and adaptation.
Students will be introduced to the economics of climate change. They will learn about carbon pricing and its alternatives, use of subsidies, cap & trade, and taxation as potential climate solutions. Students will also be able to establish a link between economics and public policies and learn to integrate human economy and climate change.
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
What is the economics of climate change?
What is carbon pricing?
How can economic policies help mitigate climate change?
What is the cost of policy uncertainty on climate change?
About the Tool
Tool Name
William Nordhaus: The Economics of Climate Change
Discipline
Economics
Topic(s) in Discipline
Economics of Climate Change, Climate Economics, Demand and Supply, Carbon Pricing, Carbon Tax, Cap and Trade, Cost Benefit Analysis
Climate Topic
Energy, Economics and Climate Change; Policies, Politics and Environmental Governance
A short audio and reading by MPR News on ‘Carbon Offset’ that gives an overview of what carbon offsets mean and how you can purchase them. It talks about the emission reduction that is linked to the travel industry through the principle of carbon credit.
Students will learn about carbon credit, emissions reduction, and carbon offset in the airline travel industry. They will also learn how consumers of air travel can buy carbon offsets to reduce individual carbon footprint and reduce deforestation.
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
What is carbon offsetting?
How can buying carbon credit reduce individual carbon emission?
About the Tool
Tool Name
Carbon offsets 101: How they work and how to get the biggest bang for your buck
A teaching module titled ‘Choices’ from a course on climate change by the Fraser Institute. This teaching module will help students understand the importance of trade-offs and evaluate the costs and benefits of climate change proposals.
Students will learn about carbon emissions, trade-offs, opportunity costs, and resource use. They will be exposed to two types of trade-offs: resource trade-offs and policy trade-offs. Through the ‘Birthday Money’ activity, students will learn how cost can be managed given a fixed income and how increase in costs can impact overall resource use and distribution.
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
Given the annual income of your household, how will housing costs change with a 10% rise in costs due to climate change?
What are the trade-offs made by policy makers in order to meet the demands of stakeholders?
About the Tool
Tool Name
Chapter 6: Choices from Understanding Climate Change: Lesson Plans for the Classroom
A classroom/ laboratory activity by Alan Green, Stetson University, that uses a team debate approach for a two-step discussion on trade policies. The first step is a discussion on the long term trend of declining employment in manufacturing in the U.S. The second step is a discussion on the challenge of climate change and international trade agreements.
Students will learn to apply economic models and analysis to support their arguments on relevant policy issues. They will also learn about protectionist measures, demand-supply analysis, direct and indirect compensation, manufacturing trends, and international trade.
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
What are some protectionist policies to counter decline in manufacturing?
How is international trade impacted by climate change?
How can trade agreements be more inclusive of climate change threats?
About the Tool
Tool Name
Trade Applications: Addressing the Decline of Manufacturing and the Challenge of Climate Change Through Trade Policy
Discipline
Economics
Topic(s) in Discipline
Economic Trade, Trade Policy, Trade Agreements, Demand and Supply, International Trade
Climate Topic
Energy, Economics and Climate Change; Policies, Politics and Environmental Governance
An audio conversation between Jason Jay, director of the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative, and Rajesh Kasturirangan and Curt Newton, from The Climate Conversations, to discuss the role of market forces and government regulation in climate action. They discuss the theoretical framework of capitalism – its heroic value as well as exploitative nature. They also analyse geopolitical interests in fossil fuels and alternative energies, and the challenges of transitioning to green energy.
Students will learn about climate action and climate justice at an individual level through parallels from geopolitical discussions. They will also learn about the limitations and challenges of capitalism in enabling ‘authentic’ conversations around climate action. Students will also learn how to create conversation around climate change by the use of shared values to understand and discover better solutions.
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
What is capitalism and how has it impacted climate action?
Why is it difficult to have open and authentic conversations about climate action?
About the Tool
Tool Name
Climate Conversations S2E12: Market Forces and Climate Action
A reading from the ‘Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change’ by economist Nicholas Stern for the Government of the United Kingdom which contains a compilation of the scientific evidence of human caused climate change, its analysis through economic theory, and possible climate policies. This comprehensive documents is divided into six main sections as mentioned below:
Part I: Climate change: our approach
The science of climate change
Economics, ethics and climate change
Technical annex: ethical frameworks and intertemporal equity
Part II: The Impacts of climate change on growth and development
How climate change will affect people around the world
Implications of climate change for development
Costs of climate change in developed countries
Economic modelling of climate change impacts
Part III: The economics of stabilisation
Projecting the growth of greenhouse gas emissions
Annex: Climate change and the environmental Kuznets curve
The challenge of stabilisation
Identifying the costs of mitigation
Macroeconomic models of costs
Structural change and competitiveness
Annex: Key statistics for 123 UK production sectors
Opportunities and wider benefits from climate policies
Towards a goal for climate change policy
Part IV: Policy responses for mitigation
Harnessing markets to reduce emissions
Carbon pricing and emission markets in practice
Accelerating technological innovation
Beyond carbon markets and technology
Part V: Policy responses for adaptation
Understanding the economics of adaptation
Adaptation in the developed world
The role of adaptation in sustainable development
Part VI: International collective action
Framework for understanding international collective action for climate change
Creating a global price for carbon
Supporting the transition to a low carbon global economy
Promoting effective international technology co-operation
Reversing emissions from land use change
International support for adaptation
Conclusions
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
State how the current rate of climate change is linked to anthropogenic activities.
How does climate change impact developed and developing countries differently?
What is carbon pricing? How effective is it in tackling the issue of climate change and economic development?
What are some effective policy frameworks for sustainable development?
About the Tool
Tool Name
Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change
Discipline
Economics
Topic(s) in Discipline
Climate Change Economics, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, International Economics, Economic Policy, Competitive Market Policies, Economics of Energy, Carbon Pricing
Climate Topic
Energy, Economics and Climate Change
Type of tool
Reading
Grade Level
Highschool, Undergraduate
Location
Global
Language
English
Translation
Developed by
Nicholas Stern
Hosted at
Grupo de Pesquisa em Mudancas Climaticas (GPMC), Brazil
A reading by Carbon Brief explaining how countries around the world design economic policies for a ‘green recovery’ from the recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic, by reducing carbon emissionswhile boosting their economies.
Students will be introduced to terms such as green recovery, green stimulus, and quantitative easing, among others. Through use of the in-built interactive grid, they will also learn about the measures aimed at reducing carbon emissions – referred to as ‘green’ measures – for several major economies such as the United Kingdom, European Union, China, and India. Additionally, they will understand the application of monetary policy such as stimulus packages, unconditional bailouts, grants, loans, and tax reliefs for a post-pandemic green economic recovery.
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
What does ‘green recovery’ mean in the context of post-pandemic economic policies?
What are some of the economic stimulus packages designed by governments for a ‘green recovery’ from the COVID-19 pandemic?
What could be the impact of ‘green recovery’ economic policies for climate mitigation?
About the tool
Tool Name
Coronavirus: Tracking how the world’s ‘green recovery’ plans aim to cut emissions
Discipline
Economics
Topic(s) in Discipline
Environmental Economics, Green Recovery, Carbon Emissions, Stimulus Packages, Carbon Taxes, Quantitative Easing, COVID-19 Pandemic and the Economy, Economic Recovery, Economic Policy
Climate Topic
Policies, Politics and Environmental Governance; Energy, Economics and Climate Change; Climate Mitigation and Adaptation
Type of tool
Reading
Grade Level
Undergraduate
Location
Global, USA, Poland, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Chile, Colombia, Ireland, Spain, Italy, New Zealand, France, Nigeria, Finland, United Kingdom, China, India, Denmark, European Union, South Korea, Germany
This reading is a comprehensive overview of how capitalism has shaped our response and reaction to climate change. This book is divided into three parts – Bad Timing, Magical thinking and Starting Anyway. Bad timing deals with how Free Market Fundamentalism, Invisible Hand and similar economic ideologies are used to fuel and promote climate denial culture and ecological amnesia. Magical Thinking tackles the issues of the ‘carbon credit’ scam led by a merger between Big Business and Big Green and how it allows consumers to buy into the philosophy of pollution being the solution to pollution. Starting Anyway points to the achievements by climate warriors, incidents where democracy has won, and the power of Indigenous Rights movements. This book also includes how economies and policies can move away from ‘extractivism’ and towards renewals.
Each of these sections will introduce students to a school of thought within capitalism and how that is being used to manipulate the consumer perspective towards Climate Change. It will help them understand the psychological implications of Free Market, Invisible Hands, Green Billionaire, and Extractivist Policies. Students will also be introduced to Atmospheric Commons, Ecological Amnesia, and Climate Denial Science. It will provide them with a good balance of which economics practices have worked and which haven’t to help get a full picture of how capitalism affects climate change.
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
What is Capitalism? Name some Capitalist ideologies and Theories.
How has capitalism shaped our perception of and response to climate change?
What can we learn from success stories to help make economic practices and policies sustainable?
About the Tool
Tool Name
Naomi Klein: This Changes Everything – Capitalism vs. The Climate
Discipline
Economics, Social Sciences, Humanities
Topic(s) in Discipline
Capitalism, Free Market Economy, Invisible Hand, Green Economy, Atmospheric Commons, Social Theory, Culture and Cultural Studies
Climate Topic
Energy, Economics and Climate Change, Climate and Society, Climate and Food Security, Policies, Politics and Environmental Governance
An interactive visualization tool with map, data and downloadable graphs to understand the carbon pricing initiatives of various nations over a thirty-year period from 1991 to 2021. The tool ‘Carbon Pricing Dashboard- Map & Data’ of the World Bank includes greenhouse gas emissions, carbon prices implemented across different countries and the value of the carbon pricing initiatives (ETS or Carbon Tax).
Students will be able to explore data from different regions or countries, download the data/graphs on their carbon pricing data and draw comparisons to improve understanding of the real-world scenario of carbon pricing across various geographies. They will also be able to determine which carbon pricing initiative is most suitable for that region.
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
Discuss the share of the global greenhouse gas emissions by regions from 1991 to 2021
Carbon pricing is used as an instrument for making climate change policies. Discuss.
About the tool
Tool Name
Carbon Pricing Dashboard
Discipline
Economics
Topic(s) in Discipline
Environmental Economics, Carbon Pricing, Emissions Trading Systems (ETS) Cost-Benefit Analysis, Greenhouse Gas Emissions
A classroom/laboratory activity or teaching module to perform cost-benefit analysis for carbon emissions abatement, considered to be an action that will mitigate climate change.
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