MSc Climate Change and Development
Program start date | Application deadline |
2024-10-01 | - |
2025-04-01 | - |
Program Overview
Key information
Start date
- September
Duration
- 2 years
Start of programme
- October 2024 / April 2025
Attendance mode
- Part-time
Location
- Distance Learning
Fees
- MSc: £10,270*
- PGDip: £8,200
- PGCert: £4,100*
*Fees are set to increase for the September/October 2025 sessions.
Course code
- OLTF0001
Entry requirements
- We will consider all applications with a 2:2 (or international equivalent) or higher in a relevant subject.
Course overview
Our MSc (or PGDip/PGCert) in Climate Change and Development provides you with the knowledge and solutions to simultaneously tackle the climate change crisis, meet Sustainable Development Goals and improve the lives of people all over the world.
Designed for those working on, or hoping to work on, climate change and development issues, this programme helps you develop the analytical skills needed to solve adaptation problems and identify low carbon development options. The programme also offers critical insight into how current development models produce environmental problems like climate change, which themselves threaten the objectives of development.
Why study MSc Climate Change and Development at SOAS?
- SOAS is ranked 5th in the world for Development Studies (QS World University Rankings 2025)
- The Development department is ranked 2nd in the world for Academic Reputation (QS World University Rankings 2025)
Testimonial
Annick Gillard-Bailetti, Director, Verdae Consulting
"Completing the MSc in Climate Change and Development programme from SOAS was a significant turning point in my career. The program’s interdisciplinary approach showed how traditional development models fuel climate change and how its impacts, in turn, undermine sustainable progress. The programme equipped me with the understanding and confidence to address these challenges head-on.
My dissertation research further reinforced my passion for gender-responsive approaches, which have since become the heart of my work. SOAS not only deepened my understanding of these critical issues but also inspired me to launch Verdae Consulting, where I now lead transformative initiatives in sustainable development and climate action."
Anaitée Mills, Climate Change Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank (or IDB Group)
"My experience in the CC&Dev programme at SOAS was transformative. The well-researched modules addressed the urgent climate crisis, the diverse student body fostered global connections, and the real-world focus equipped me with critical, reflective foundations to approach my career in sustainable development with greater depth, purpose, and a global perspective."
Structure
Climate Change and Development is available as a Master of Science (MSc), Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) or Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert).
The programme is organised in two study sessions per year, beginning in April and October. In each study session students complete one module, starting with the core module, over a period of a 16 weeks followed by one of 4 dissertation stages for MSc students.
MSc students are required to enrol for their dissertation at the same time as their modules, before the start of each session. Students will need to allocate at least 10-15 hours of study per module, per week.
Three programme structures: MSc, PGDip and PGCert
Please note that programmes must be completed within the registration period.
MSc
- Four modules, comprising one core (30 credits), at three elective modules (30 credits each) from the list below (only one elective is permitted from outside CeDEP).
- MSc students will also be required to complete a dissertation (60 credits). In a typical 2-year MSc programme, the dissertation is completed in four 8-week stages following each delivered module.
- For students aiming to complete the MSc over three years, there will be two study sessions when you will not need to study a module. You may choose not to study at all during these sessions due to other commitments. Alternatively, you may want to use this time to undertake preparation for your dissertation.
PGDip
- Four modules, as per the requirements for MSc students, but will not be required to complete a dissertation (thereby gaining 120 credits in total).
PGCert
- One core module and one elective module from List A.
Modules
Modules from other departments:Only students on MSc and PGDip programmes may take one module from other departments as listed below.
Module type| Module name| Apr 2024| Oct 2024| Apr 2025| Oct 2025
---|---|---|---|---|---
Core| Climate Change and Development (30 credits)| *| *| *| *
List A(choose 1-2 modules)| Climate Change Adaptation (30 credits)| *| | *|
Low Carbon Development (30 credits)| | *| | *
List B(choose 0-2 modules) | Food Security and Social Protection (30 credits)| | *| | *
Urban Sustainability (30 credits)| | *| | *
Water and Land Management for Sustainable Development (30 credits)| | *| | *
Global Environmental Change and Sustainability (30 credits)| *| | *|
Understanding Poverty (30 credits)| *| | *|
Biodiversity, Conservation and Development (30 credits)| *| | *|
List C| Understanding Violence, Conflict and Development (offered through Development Studies)| *| | *|
The Politics of Gender and Feminisms in Development (offered through Development Studies)| | *| | *
Dissertation| Dissertation Climate Change & Development (Stage 1)| *| *| *| *
Dissertation| Dissertation Climate Change & Development (Stage 2)| *| *| *| *
Dissertation| Dissertation Climate Change & Development (Stage 3)| *| *| *| *
Dissertation| Dissertation Climate Change & Development (Stage 4)| *| *| *| *
Registration period
Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma and MSc Students are registered for a maximum of 3-years. If a student upgrades from a PG Certificate to PG Diploma or PG Diploma to MSc the 3-year registration period will apply from the date the students commences study on the first programmes.
Successful requests to upgrade will be made in the first year of study and must meet specific criteria.
Important notice
The information on the website reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session. The modules are indicative options of the content students can expect and are/have been previously delivered as part of these programmes.
However, this information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability is subject to change.
Core
Climate Change and Development - 30 credits Open
This module provides a foundational overview of the relationships and challenges of climate change and global development. It provides a grounding in the science of climate change and different theories and models of development before critically analysing the potential for low carbon and climate resilient development pathways in the future. It introduces students to a range of climate policies, financing and programming mechanisms across different scales including international agreements, governments, businesses, communities and individuals. The module is aimed at postgraduate students and professionals from different disciplinary and professional backgrounds who want to understand more about the theory and practice of integrated responses to climate change and development challenges. It provides a foundational understanding of natural and social science processes, and of technical and policy issues, from which students can develop more specialised interests and knowledge. Providing a multi-disciplinary approach across physical sciences, economics, political and social science, the module provide students with skills to understand and critically review the central global development challenge of tackling climate change.
Compulsory Dissertation
Dissertation (Stage 1) Open
The dissertation module presents students with the opportunity not just to learn about a given subject, but to contribute to knowledge in that area - presuming that they can design their research cogently and master the methodological considerations relevant to producing credible answers.
Dissertation (Stage 2) Open
Dissertation (Stage 3) Open
Dissertation (Stage 4) - 60 credits Open
MSc Climate Change and Development (ODL) Guided Options List C Other ODL Departments
A maximum of 30 credits to be taken from MSc Climate Change and Development (ODL) Guided Options List C Other ODL Departments
Understanding Violence, Conflict and Development (Online) - 30 credits Open
This course provides a grounding in analytical approaches to the political economy of violence, conflict and development. It will discuss empirical trends, difficulties of data collection and the importance of categorization and boundaries to matters of violence before moving onto some of the foundational theories on conflict and violence including gender perspectives, debates about the origins of human violence, and the role of violence in historical change.
The Politics of Gender and Feminism in Development (Online) - 30 credits Open
This module introduces students to the study of gender as it intersects with, and is embedded in, the field and discourse of development, through a range of issues, debates, and concepts. The module is founded on the understanding of gender as a social construction and an understanding of development as a construction with competing and contested frameworks. Students identify, analyse, and critique how different approaches and policies in development both impact upon and are impacted by gender.
MSc Climate Change and Development (ODL) Guided Options List A
Minimum 30 and maximum 60 credits to be taken from Guided Options List A
Low Carbon Development - 30 credits Open
This module explores the main issues around climate change mitigation and the transition to a low-carbon development. Global climate change poses a serious threat to international development efforts. To reduce emissions and achieve human development, there is a need for serious global and local commitments to low- carbon development. This module elaborates the key issues and concepts in the field of low-carbon development, and their interactions with critical debates on poverty and poverty reduction, economic growth, social justice, inequalities, sustainable development and transformative changes.
Climate Change Adaptation - 30 credits Open
This module examines the theory and practice of adapting to climate change. It considers the underlying global political and economic conditions which influence differences in vulnerability to climate impacts and how the processes governing how we adapt are fundamentally intertwined with development.
MSc Climate Change and Development (ODL) Guided Options List B- Home Department
Minimum 30 credits and maximum 60 credits taken from Guided Options List B- Home Department
Biodiversity, Conservation and Development - 30 credits Open
This module is about biodiversity as the material and conceptual phenomenon which links conservation and development. How biodiversity is treated is one of the fundamental determinants of the nature of society for current generations, and for how future generations will live. A key aspect of this module Is to examine current understanding of global threats to biodiversity and to demonstrate how heavily implicated development processes are in the magnitude of these threats. The links between biodiversity and social and political organisation are explored.
Understanding Poverty - 30 credits Open
This module assists students in understanding the nature of poverty, its causes, its consequences, trends in poverty reduction, and debates over the drivers of these trends. There is an emphasis on assisting students to gain a rigorous and critical understanding of key concepts used in international poverty debates, and on showing how the definitions of poverty that we use affect our evaluation of poverty incidence and trends, and the policies prescribed to tackle poverty.
Food Security and Social Protection - 30 credits Open
The module examines food (in)security structured around the internationally recognised pillars of food security. Students will explore the challenges of nutrition in a world where a growing number of countries (and households) suffer from the double burden of undernutrition and obesity as well as situations of food crisis such as conflict and climate change. This module introduces key concepts related to food security and social protection, including the themes of poverty, vulnerability and the different approaches to addressing food insecurity. Students will evaluate a variety of social protection approaches aimed at mitigating food insecurity and are encouraged to reflect on the political economy that influences context and outcomes.
Water and Land Management for Sustainable Development - 30 credits Open
This module provides an opportunity to study and understand fundamental theories, concepts and tools relevant to the management of water and land resources. Management of water, land and the linkages between are key for sustainable development, and affect both the developed and developing world. The themes of climate change, poverty, gender, equity, development and sustainability are treated as cross-cutting in this module.
Global Environmental Change and Sustainability - 30 credits Open
This module provides an overview of the major contemporary issues in global environmental change and sustainability which are of critical importance for environment and sustainability policy locally and globally. In addition to an exploration of the processes global environmental change, students will engage with critical questions about politics and power relations influencing sustainability implementation. These are placed in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Urban Sustainability - 30 credits Open
This module explores current challenges and trends in urbanization, focusing on their connections to social and environmental sustainability issues. Students will investigate historical urban development and essential components of sustainable urban systems including water, energy, the built environment, transport, communication, food, and health. The module will examine how these elements contribute to city functionality, their evolving nature, and the policies and approaches that seek to ensure sustainable, just and equitable urban environments. Students will develop research skills in data collection and case studies while also honing reflective skills based on their personal experiences and contexts.
Teaching and learning
Students are supported by a dedicated module tutor and convenor with whom students can discuss academic queries at regular intervals during each study session. This programme is delivered 100% online through Moodle which provides access to all learning materials and course resources as well as access to the SOAS Library.
Learning is asynchronous allowing students to fit their studies around existing commitments. Students are able to interact with their module tutor and fellow students in discussion forums, peer-to-peer learning and engagement guided by the tutor. Assessments are designed to build knowledge and skills over the course of study.
Assessment
Modules are assessed by a combination of formative and summative assessment. The variety of assessments on our modules aims to develop a range of critical, analytical and writing skills. All assessments are submitted online.
Research methods and dissertation (MSc students only)
The dissertation involves desk-based and/or field-based research. In year one, students will learn how to conduct original research by completing the research methods module. In year two, students will complete data collection, write up and submit the final dissertation.
The dissertation is assessed through two components: the assessed proposal (20% of the final module mark); and a 10,000 word dissertation (80% of the final module mark).
Scholarships
Title | Deadline date
---|---
DS-CeDEP Online Learning bursary | 21 March 2025
Fees and funding
Programme level| MSc| PGDip| PGCert
---|---|---|---
Fee| £10,270*| £8,200| £4,100
*Fees are set to increase to £12,000 for the September 2025 sessions onwards.
See online learning fees for further information.
Pay as you learn
Our online learning programmes can be paid in full at the time of enrolment or on a pay as you learn basis. Pay as you learn means you only pay for the module you are enrolling on.
Postgraduate loans
If you have been a resident in England for 3 years you may be eligible. See postgraduate funding and finance for more information.
Look through the available postgraduate scholarships.
Alternatively, we also recommend students approach their local British Council, British High Commission or British Embassy, for information on local funding
Dependent on nationality, employment circumstances and other factors, funding and sponsorship sources can include:
- United Nations (UNESCO, FAO, UNDP, UNEP etc)
- Bilateral Aid Agencies (SIDA, GTZ, etc)
- European Union
- British Council
- UK Department for International Development / Foreign & Commonwealth Office
- NGOs
- Educational and other charitable trusts
Employment
Graduates from the Centre for Development, Environment and Policy (CeDEP) leave SOAS with in-depth knowledge about the environment and sustainability challenges facing the world today. Recent graduates have been hired by:
- African Development Bank Group
- BP
- Civic Exchange, Hong Kong
- Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
- Energy Networks Association
- Energy UK
- Ernst & Young LLP
- ESB
- Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
- Plan UK
- Public Policy Projects
- UN Environment Programme
Find out about our Careers Service.
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