This graduate seminar examines how global climate policy is designed, negotiated, and implemented through institutions of the United Nations system. Students will develop a working understanding of the structure and function of UN climate governance, with particular attention to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), related multilateral environmental agreements, and the political, scientific, and institutional processes that shape international climate decision-making.

The course moves beyond theoretical discussions of global climate governance to explore how policy actually happens: who participates, how agendas are set, how negotiations unfold, and how outcomes are translated into national and local action. Students will analyze treaty architecture, decision-making procedures, negotiation coalitions, financing mechanisms, and accountability structures, while situating climate policy within broader geopolitical, economic, and justice frameworks.

A central component of the seminar is a semester-long applied project aligned with a major international climate policy event occurring in Fall 2026 (e.g., a UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP31) or related multilateral meeting). Each student will follow a specific country, negotiation party, issue area, or institutional actor throughout the preparatory period and event cycle. Students will map timelines, monitor negotiations, analyze emerging policy debates, and evaluate decision outcomes.

Students will communicate their findings not only through academic analysis but also through engagement with a broader professional network, The Middlebury Global Climate Policy Network. Final deliverables emphasize policy-relevant communication, including briefings, interest holder analyses, and public-facing outputs designed to engage a community interested and/or working professionally in climate policy.