Business and Climate Change: Towards Net Zero Emissions

Business and Climate Change: Towards Net Zero Emissions, offered by the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership through GetSmarter, is an online short course designed to help professionals manage climate-related risks and opportunities while leading the transition to net zero emissions. The course responds to growing pressures created by fossil fuel dependence, unstable energy markets, changing regulation, technology shifts, and rising stakeholder expectations. It helps learners understand how climate, nature, and people can be embedded into core business strategy to strengthen resilience, competitiveness, and long-term value creation.

Core Content

The curriculum explores core concepts, tools, and low-carbon initiatives through real-world case studies and practical activities. CISL’s course structure covers changing climate risks for business, the vision of a net zero future, transition planning, collaboration and leadership, decarbonisation success stories, innovation and design for a net zero century, leading change, and the learner’s own role in advancing the transition. This gives participants a structured understanding of how climate ambition can be aligned with commercial priorities and how organisations can build more resilient business models.

Key Skills

Participants will develop the ability to understand organisational climate risks and strategic opportunities, shape strategies that align climate ambition with commercial goals, and leverage innovation to support more resilient business models. The course also helps learners strengthen their understanding of transition planning, leadership approaches, and practical low-carbon initiatives, while building confidence to lead change within their organisation and beyond. CISL states that learners finish with a tailored net zero transition action plan that supports both personal and organisational sustainability goals.

Target Learners

This course is designed for professionals responsible for navigating climate risks or implementing net zero commitments within their organisations. CISL notes that it is particularly relevant for climate change consultants, sustainability specialists, environmental managers, finance professionals, operations professionals, senior managers, and C-suite leaders who need practical tools to support decarbonisation, resilience, and sustainable transformation across industries.

Learning Format

Hosted on GetSmarter, the course is delivered in a flexible online format over eight weeks, plus one orientation week, with an expected study commitment of seven to ten hours per week. The learning experience includes real-world case studies, practical activities, expert tutor feedback, and eight structured modules that help learners build practical understanding step by step. CISL also notes that the course includes three bonus CISL Connect live sessions, is CPD certified with an estimated 74 hours of learning, and is delivered in collaboration with GetSmarter as an interactive and supported online learning experience.

Additional Benefits

The course offers strong practical value for professionals who want to move from broad climate ambition to an organisation-specific action plan for net zero. Its focus on resilience, commercial strategy, transition planning, and leadership makes it especially useful for learners who need to drive climate action in real business contexts. CISL also highlights the opportunity to build broader peer relationships and strengthen connections with the wider Cambridge sustainability community, adding longer-term professional value beyond the course itself.

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