Postgraduate Course: Climate Change Measurement (online) (PGGE11220)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The primary aim of this course is to provide participants with high-level understanding of key environmental accounting techniques, specifically carbon footprinting and ecosystem service valuation. Key methodologies will be introduced during lectures and students will be required to demonstrate their understanding through applied assessments. This knowledge will prepare students for research and future careers in the areas of carbon accounting and environmental economics. This course also aims to prepare students for effective group work. |
| Course description |
This course focuses on the two main ways to measure climate change impacts:
Carbon Footprinting and Auditing: this course will discuss the history of footprinting and eco-labelling and the various schemes which exist internationally. Students will be introduced to the various footprinting and labelling methodologies and how consistency and reliability is maintained through auditing. This course will cover product and corporate carbon footprinting in detail. Students will come away from the course with specific skills in the calculative practices associated with carbon accounting.
Ecosystem services are defined as the benefits that humans received from nature. Flows of ecosystem services are likely to be strongly affected by climate change. This part of the course explores the ways in which ecosystem services and changes in levels of services can be valued, measured and monetized by society, across the spectrum from aesthetic to extractive values. Both theoretical and practical applications of ecosystem valuation are explored through case studies of policies and projects. Real-world examples of ecosystem services being valued are presented, and current policy responses are examined including payments for ecosystem services projects, biodiversity offsets, certification schemes and REDD+. This part of the course encourages you to think creatively and critically about ecosystem services concepts and their use in varied valuation exercises.
*This course is run and taught by co-Course Organisers: Dr James Paterson and Dr Erika Warnatzsch
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the range of measurement, calculation, reporting and auditing requirements, as well as the main drivers for carbon accounting, and have an appreciation for how they may change over time;
- Demonstrate an appreciation of the ethical questions raised by carbon accounting, and the risks associated with different accounting practices;
- Demonstrate an understanding of the role that ecosystems play in terms of underpinning critical services for human wellbeing;
- Develop the capacity to apply non-monetary and monetary assessment to various ecosystem services and learn to analyse the challenges to managing ecosystem services from an ecological, social and economic perspective; and,
- Work effectively in a group.
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Learning Resources
World Resources Institute (WRI)/World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) (2004) The Greenhouse Gas
Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard.
http://www.ghgprotocol.org/standards/corporate-standard
British Standards Institution (BSI) (2011) PAS2050:2011. Specification for the assessment of the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services, British Standards Institution, London.
http://shop.bsigroup.com/en/forms/PASs/PAS-2050/
UK National Ecosystem Assessment (2011) The UK National Ecosystem Assessment Technical Report. UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge.
https://www.gov.uk/ecosystems-services
WBCD (2011): Guide to Corporate Ecosystem Services Valuation. World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
http://www.wbcsd.org/Pages/EDocument/EDocumentDetails.aspx?ID=104 |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
On completion of this course, students should be able to:
- critically evaluate carbon accounting and ecosystem services statements;
- critically evaluate alternative approaches to carbon accounting and ecosystem services
- cooperate with others from different professional, educational and cultural backgrounds to produce group analysis and information relevant to academia, businesses and policy makers |
| Special Arrangements |
This course is only available to students on MSC Carbon Management (online) and PgCert Carbon Innovation (online). Please contact the Course Administrator for queries about enrolling students from other programmes. |
| Keywords | Carbon Footprinting,Ecosystem Valuation,Carbon Labelling,Greenhouse Gas Emissions,Carbon Account |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr James Paterson
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Heather Penman
Tel: (0131 6)50
Email: |
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