Environmental issues are among the most profound challenges facing humanity to ensure the sustainability of the planet. Adopting a multidisciplinary perspective and accepting the scientific consensus on environmental issues, this unit examines how the international political system is responding to global environmental issues by investigating the rise of the environmental movement, the spread of concepts and ideas about sustainability, the growth of environmental institutions, processes and interest groups, and the extent and limits of global political cooperation. It sets these developments against theories of international relations and media representation. A feature of the unit will be the opportunity to focus on individual case studies including: global warming and its social impacts, species loss, protection of the ozone layer, global water supplies and international whaling.