Climate Action for Business Certificate
For many companies, the importance of climate action has taken center stage. Stakeholders, from employees to customers to investors, expect leaders to have a plan, and to make serious public commitments. But it can be hard to know where to begin, and how to proceed in a way that can make a real difference. If your company is serious about its climate ambition and its sustainable development goals, the Climate Action for Business Certificate from the Leeds School of Business can help you move from intention to action.
Climate Action for Business Certificate, developed with a framework will equip you to lead your organization through a complete climate strategy, from data gathering through emissions reductions to TCFD (Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures) and CDP (Climate Disclosure Project) reporting, and much, much more.
Over the course of two back-to-back half-days, we'll explore climate action through eight aspects or dimensions of the Drawdown-aligned Business Framework. You'll leave class with a template for action that can be tailored specifically to your company and your industry. You will be conversant in the vocabulary, frameworks and models that are essential for effective climate action and will receive a for completing the course. In addition, you will be connected to your peers in the program to help build your network of business leaders to support your commitment to achieving net zero and beyond.
Contact LeedsExecEd@colorado.edu for any questions you may have.
May 7-8, 2024
Online
DURATION
2 half-day online modules
- 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. MST on Consecutive Days
PROGRAM FEE
$699
Ready to enroll?
Curriculum
Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration
- Engage employees on climate action
- Create pathways for every job to be a climate job
- Embed climate justice in every aspect of your plan
- Ensure the board is climate-competent
- Engage and support local communities
Emissions Reductions
- Accelerate goals, include interim targets, and phase out use of offsets
- Address supply chain and historical emissions
- Institutionalize emissions reduction efforts
- Use carbon removal technology as a last resort and only for unavoidable emissions
Products, Partnerships, and Procurement
- Ensure products and partnerships don’t serve bad climate actors
- Require suppliers to adopt science-based emissions reductions targets
- Prioritize circularity and low carbon materials
Investments and Financing
- Offer employees climate-friendly retirement plans and investment opportunities
- Push banks and asset managers to align investments with the Paris Agreement
- Pressure insurance companies to stop underwriting and investing in carbon-intensive projects
Climate Disclosures
- Publicly disclose climate-related risk and support mandatory disclosure standards
- Use standardized reporting frameworks such as TCFD and CDP
Climate Policy Advocacy
- Use influence to advocate for climate policy at all levels of government
- Align political contributions
- Focus lobbying dollars on just climate solutions
- Push trade associations to align
Business Model Transformation
- Embed climate considerations into every part of the business
- Focus business model on scaling climate solutions, phase out parts of the business that are incompatible
Long-term Thinking
- Value long-term thinking over short-term profit and prioritize building a just climate future for all
Meet the Instructors
The instructors for this course are Pete Dignan - Principal of Ever Better, PBC, and Leeds Adjunct Instructor for the Certificate in ESG, and Jeff York, Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the Leeds School of Business.
Pete Dignan has had a wide-ranging career which includes time as a Hydrologist for the state of Ohio, software entrepreneur, CEO of a renewable energy company, and founder of the consulting firm Ever Better, which helps organizations operate as if all stakeholders truly matter.
Jeffrey G. York is an Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship. He currently serves as the Chair of the Division of Social Responsibility and Sustainability (SRS) and as the Research Director for the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship. He received his PhD from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. Professor York’s teaching and research are focused on environmental entrepreneurship, the simultaneous creation of ecological and economic goods. His research has been published in multiple research journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Business Venturing, Organization Science, and Strategic Management Journal.
Strategic Partners
Project Drawdown
The Leeds School of Business is using the Project Drawdown Climate Solutions at Work framework as the basis for this program. Learn more about
Mission Zero
The Leeds School of Business has partnered with The Mission Zero Fund at ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder sponsors various programs that allow ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ faculty and students to work on climate action. These programs engage students in all of the colleges at the University of Colorado Boulder.
