Enrollment for Climate Governance Certificate
Opens on March 16, 2015
March 5, 2015 – Washington, DC –
The Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO) announced
today that it will open enrollment for the Climate
Governance Certificate, its first professional certificate
under the CCO CertificationTM
program, on March 16, 2015. The CCO CertificationTM
program was established by ACCO to provide a recognized
credential to professionals who have developed the
competencies and knowledge to integrate an understanding of
climate change and related implications into their
decision-making.
| |
|
Quotes from
Industry & Government
"Climate change
is affecting communities, public health, natural
resources, ecosystems, economies,
infrastructure, and supply chains across the
Nation – now and into the foreseeable future.
Because climate change effects are far-reaching
and complex, and our understanding of climate
change is rapidly growing, responding to climate
change will pose new or unfamiliar challenges
for many of leaders. The Climate Governance
Certificate lays out a curriculum and sets a
standard for ensuring that leaders can get the
knowledge and skills they need to help the
nation respond to the threats that climate
change poses."
- Paul Wagner (Former Deputy Associate
Director for Climate Preparedness, White House
Council on Environmental Quality)
"This initiative will help us build the
institution-wide capacity we need to drive
large-scale climate adaptation initiatives and
prepare communities like South Florida for the
very significant implications of climate
change."
- Susanne Torriente (Assistant City Manager,
City of Fort Lauderdale)
"Credentialing
Climate Change Officers is critical to
professionalizing this emerging discipline.
Climate change affects virtually every business.
Understanding how climate change impacts
business strategy and planning for - and
adapting to - that impact is fundamental to
success. Businesses with an officer who has
earned a Climate Governance Certificate will be
a step ahead of their competition. I applaud
ACCO for this important accomplishment.
- Peter Gray
(Partner, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP)
"The Climate Governance Certificate addresses an
important constituency within ACCO’s vision of
empowering a professional workforce to manage
the risks and opportunities associated with
climate change.
- Michael Mondshine (Vice President,
Sustainability and Energy, WSP and ACCO Board
Chair) |
|
"This is a critical step toward transforming
decision-making to sensibly account for the impacts and
implications of climate change upon businesses, academia,
communities and government agency missions," said ACCO
co-founder and executive director Daniel Kreeger. "When ACCO was
launched in 2009, the centerpiece of our vision was ensuring
that public and private institutions have the right people, with
the right skills, in the right parts of the organization, to
meaningfully address climate change."
The requirements and supporting curriculum that
have been established for the Climate Governance Certificate
address a fundamental understanding of climate science and risk
assessment, footprint management and reduction strategies,
project finance and economic analysis related to climate
initiatives, governance and engagement tactics, and enterprise
strategy. Bearers of the Climate Governance Certificate will be
recognized by hiring authorities and leaders as being candidates
who are best suited to meaningfully address climate change in
their professional roles.
The curriculum for this certificate requires
approximately 40 hours of training on core climate change
fundamentals and organizational strategy, electives tailored by
sector, function, and geographical region as well the completion
of a work-related practicum project.
The first suite of courses under this program,
the CCO Training BootcampsTM,
are administered and taught by ACCO members and partners. As
curriculum guidelines for each course are finalized, third party
institutions will be enabled to submit course offerings for
accreditation under this program. ACCO will establish a review
board responsible for benchmarking third-party course offerings
to ensure they meet rigorous standards for training under the
CCO CertificationTM program.
The third party course accreditation process will be launched in
Summer 2015.
ACCO launched the CCO CertificationTM
program to standardize the role of the climate change
professional, as well as to formalize climate change education
and training across a broad range of other key professions. The
top-level recognition, the CCO DesignationTM,
will be launched in 2016. Certificate bearers will be able to
leverage completed work toward the CCO Designation, requirements
for which will be announced later this year. The program’s
requirements are based upon the Core Competencies for Climate
Change Officers and Professionals, a doctrine that was developed
by ACCO and published in 2013 after a public-comment process.
Comprehensive information on the CCO
Certification program, including details on the Climate
Governance Certificate, the Core Competencies for Climate Change
Officers and Professionals and ACCO CCO Training BootcampTM
catalog is available at
http://www.ACCOonline.org/certification.html.
About the Association of Climate Change
Officers
The Association of Climate Change Officers
is a 501(c)(3) non-profit membership organization for
executives and officials worldwide in industry, government,
academia and the non-profit community. ACCO’s mission is to
define, develop and support the functions, resources and
communities necessary for effective organizational
leadership in addressing climate-related risks and
opportunities. For more information about ACCO, please visit
http://www.accoonline.org.
# # #
