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.
For more information see the certificate website.
Admissions information
To apply, complete the form on the certificate website.
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 3rd year.
Program requirements
To complete the certificate, students must complete 18 credits across 5 categories:
- Climate Science (3)1,2
- One of EOSC_V 112, GEOS_V 102 or EOSC_V 340
- Climate Emergency (3)1,2,3
- GEOG_V 202 or GEOG_V 312
- Climate Justice (3)
- GEOG_V 302
- Elective (3)2
- One of CONS_V 310, CONS_V 425, ENVR_V 410, EOSC_V 340, GEOG_V 312, GEOS_V 408, NURS_V 290 or POLI_V 351
- Climate Action (6)
- All of ENVR_V 201, ENVR_V 301 and ENVR_V 4014 AND one of GEOG_V 402 or ENVR_V 4025
1 300-level options are included to accommodate upper level students that need to meet upper level credit degree requirements. If 300-level courses are used see footnote 2.
2 Credits can only be applied to one category. If EOSC_V 340 or GEOG_V 312 are used to fulfill either the Climate Science or the Climate Emergency categories, they cannot be used as Electives.
3 Students in the Faculty of Forestry may also use CONS_V 210 to fill the Climate Emergency credit. Students using this option need to notify the Certificate Administrator.
4 ENVR_V 201, ENVR_V 301 and ENVR_V 401 are intended to be taken as three 1-credit courses over three years. Students demonstrating need to complete the certificate in two years instead of three, can, with permission from the Certificate Administrator, register in ENVR_V 302, a 2-credit option combining elements from both ENVR_V 201 and ENVR_V 301. Students in ENVR_V 302 will fully participate with the Climate Action Labs (CAL) cohort.
5 The ENVR_V and GEOG_V sections of the capstone course are course equivalents. Both sections are made available to create flexibility for students’ degree requirements.