Association of Climate Change Officers Unveils First Professional Credentialing Program Focused Upon Climate Governance

WASHINGTON, March 5, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 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 Certification™ program, on March 16, 2015.  The CCO Certification™ 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.

"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 Bootcamps™, 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 Certification™ program.  The third party course accreditation process will be launched in Summer 2015.

ACCO launched the CCO Certification™ 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 Designation™, 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 Bootcamp™ 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.

SOURCE Association of Climate Change Officers

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http://www.accoonline.org