Climate Change Governance Essentials

Course description

Climate change is shaping a new reality for us all, creating opportunities and risks for business in a diverse number of ways. The urgent need to address the climate emergency requires governments and business to accelerate transitioning to a new economic model to limit our global average temperature increases. We have created Climate Change Governance Essentials (CCGE) to support best-practice climate change governance in Aotearoa New Zealand.

This course is a must-attend for those wanting to understand climate change governance. It will equip you with the tools and knowledge needed to make climate a priority at the board table. Learn how to implement sustainable practices, mitigate risks and seize opportunities associated with climate governance. You’ll gain a comprehensive overview of the responsibilities and accountabilities you need to be across in the climate governance space.

By the end of this course, you will have the knowledge to:

• Assess climate change governance issues currently facing organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand
• Understand the significance of appraising and managing climate-related risks to ensure business resiliency and continuity
• Describe tools and frameworks to identify and assess risks
• Identify and monitor climate-related regulations and emerging standards to ensure the board is meeting these
• Effectively contribute to a sustainable and equitable future

As a Climate Governance Initiative Approved Course, Climate Change Governance Essentials has undergone a robust review process to make sure its contents are highly relevant to directors of any experience level or senior executives interested in addressing climate change at a governance level. You can read more about the review procedure and what this approval means here.

Course format and duration

The course will take you approximately 12 hours over five weeks.

• You will receive access to three self-paced modules from the course start date.
• A 2 hour virtual workshop (delivered via Zoom) will be held on the morning of the last day of the course, it is highly recommended that you complete the self-paced learning before the workshop.

You will have access to the modules for six months from the course start date. 

Content covered

Module 1: Putting climate change into perspective

• Increase your climate literacy
• Develop an understanding of the requirements to achieve net zero
• Recognise the role sustainability plays in becoming a climate-resilient organisation
• Understand the benefits of incorporating environmental social governance (ESG) into your organisation

Module 2: Climate change governance

• Apply best practice climate change governance to your own context
• Consider the board's role in overseeing and mitigating climate-related risks
• Apply a range of monitoring and reporting strategies to your own context
• Assess your preparedness for regulatory changes
• Evaluate your board's readiness for climate change governance

Module 3: Tools and frameworks

• Apply a range of strategy tools within a climate-related context
• Understand the role of governance in transition plans
• Consider how climate scenarios are relevant to your context

Throughout each module, there will be tasks to complete, forum discussions to contribute to and self-reflection to undertake. We recommend you make the most of these activities to enhance your learning experience and what you’ll take away with you.

At the end of the modules you’ll attend a virtual 2 hour long workshop, where you will:

• Identify actions your board can adopt to respond to climate related risks and opportunities
• Collaborate to generate diverse perspectives on climate governance

Who should attend

Directors of any experience level or senior executives who are interested in addressing the challenges of climate change at a governance level.

We encourage all directors or executives interested in climate change governance to join Chapter Zero New Zealand  as a supporter. Chapter Zero NZ is the resource for climate change information at the Institute of Directors and is the New Zealand Chapter of the World Economic Forum’s Climate Governance Initiative (CGI). It’s free to join and we will provide you with a range or resources, news and events to increase your climate change governance skills and knowledge. 

Climate Change Governance Essentials uses the expertise of some of the country’s finest climate change experts,  including KPMG.