This course is designed for students who will be writing a major research paper on a comparative or international environmental issue. The course will cover both theoretical and practical issues related to environmental policy and will integrate students own research interests into the discussion. Issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, energy efficiency and renewable energies, over-fishing will be examined. We will consider questions of regime formation, comparative policy approaches, and issues of leaders and laggards. Analyzing the factors and causes for success or failure in environmental policy is a precondition for an effective policy. Political scientists could contribute by studying questions, such as: What are the driving forces or hindrances in environmental and climate policy? Which instruments, strategies, institutions are effective? Which actors are influential and by which means? How fair is environmental policy from a global and national perspective? These and more issues will be dealt with in this course. After a basic introduction to environmental and climate policy and approaches to study this policy field, the participants will address the issues listed above by way of case studies or comparative studies. Some excursions to meet with relevant organizations in the Berlin area will be arranged.