Certificate in Climate Studies and Action

About this programme

This certificate is a direct response to the climate emergency (at UBC and beyond). It is delivered as an interdisciplinary collaboration between the UBC’s Department of Geography (Faculty of Arts) and the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (Faculty of Science), and offered on the traditional and unceded territory of the Musqueam First Nation. The program is open to and designed for all undergraduate students across UBC, providing students with an opportunity to integrate an interdisciplinary climate change credential into their undergraduate program. Increasing capacity for climate action is the focus of the certificate. Early classes cover climate science, the crises that led to declaring an “emergency” and the various strategies that already exist to address it. Upper level classes take a deeper look at climate justice, the social, economic, political and cultural processes that underlie climate change and include an elective class for students to deepen knowledge in a specific area. Community-engaged learning, with a climate action focus, is embedded throughout the program, culminating in a capstone project. Students from all undergraduate programs can apply. Students are encouraged to apply at the end of their first year, but there is flexibility for students coming to the certificate late (e.g. transfer students) to enrol in their third or fourth year. To complete the certificate, students must complete 18 credits across 5 categories: ENVR_V 201, ENVR_V 301, and ENVR_V 401 are intended to be taken as three 1-credit courses over three years. Howeve