Climate Change Policy and Governance Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Climate Policy Officers, Government Planners and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-CCA-015

Before you join: Participants should have basic familiarity with climate change concepts, their sector’s planning or decision processes, and the policy responsibilities of their organisation or government.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Climate change policy is now a core management issue for public authorities, regulated industries, banks, infrastructure operators and development organisations. Decisions on land use, water, energy, procurement, investment and public services must account for physical climate risks, transition risks, distributional effects and statutory commitments. Poorly designed policy can create unfunded mandates, conflicting incentives, weak accountability and avoidable exposure for communities, assets and public finances.

This course equips participants to interpret climate science for policy decisions and convert risk evidence into credible adaptation and mitigation measures. Participants examine the Paris Agreement, National Adaptation Plan process, IPCC risk framework and Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. They learn to formulate policy objectives, assess options, assign institutional responsibilities, engage affected groups, identify financing routes and establish monitoring arrangements. The course also addresses climate justice, just transition considerations, policy coherence and the relationship between national commitments and local delivery.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with policy case work, facilitated group analysis, scenario-based decision making and structured application planning. Cases draw on urban heat, flood management, agricultural resilience, energy transition, coastal development and climate-related financial risk. Participants leave with a climate policy design pack containing a risk and stakeholder analysis, policy options appraisal, governance map, monitoring framework and first-year implementation plan that can be adapted to their own mandate.

The course is suited to professionals who contribute to climate strategy, public policy, sustainability, risk, infrastructure planning, finance or development programming. It is particularly useful for those asked to turn broad climate commitments into funded, accountable actions.

What you will be able to do

  • Interpret IPCC climate risk evidence for policy, investment and service-delivery decisions
  • Formulate climate policy objectives using theory of change and policy coherence analysis
  • Assess adaptation options using multi-criteria analysis, cost-effectiveness and equity criteria
  • Design governance arrangements with clear mandates, accountability and stakeholder participation
  • Integrate mitigation, adaptation and just transition considerations within sector policies
  • Prepare climate finance propositions linked to public budgets and investment pipelines
  • Develop monitoring frameworks using indicators, baselines, targets and review cycles
  • Produce a first-year climate policy implementation plan for a defined institutional mandate

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Confidence interpreting climate risk evidence without relying solely on technical specialists
  • A structured method for drafting defensible adaptation policy proposals
  • Practical language for discussing climate governance with senior decision makers
  • Experience assessing trade-offs among resilience, cost, equity and political feasibility
  • A reusable implementation plan for advancing a climate policy priority at work

For your organisation

  • Clearer climate policy decisions linked to institutional mandates and budget processes
  • Better prioritisation of adaptation investments using explicit risk and equity criteria
  • Stronger accountability through defined roles, indicators and review arrangements
  • Reduced policy conflict between climate, infrastructure, land-use and social objectives
  • Improved readiness for climate disclosure, donor requirements and public scrutiny

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can interpret climate evidence and frame policy questions around material risks.

  • IPCC risk framework: hazard, exposure, vulnerability and response capacity
  • Distinguishing weather variability, climate trends and attribution confidence
  • Climate scenarios, Representative Concentration Pathways and Shared Socioeconomic Pathways
  • Physical risks classified as acute events and chronic climate shifts
  • Translating climate projections into decision-relevant risk statements
  • Uncertainty communication using confidence language, ranges and decision thresholds

Participants can locate organisational action within national and international climate policy architecture.

  • Paris Agreement obligations, Nationally Determined Contributions and global stocktake
  • National Adaptation Plan process and adaptation communication requirements
  • Sendai Framework priorities for disaster risk reduction governance
  • Policy coherence between climate, biodiversity, development and disaster strategies
  • Vertical coordination across national, regional, municipal and community institutions
  • Legal instruments: acts, regulations, standards, incentives and public procurement

Participants can prepare a proportionate climate risk assessment to inform adaptation priorities.

  • Problem framing defines systems, assets, populations and planning horizons
  • Climate risk screening identifies material hazards and affected functions
  • Vulnerability assessment examines sensitivity, adaptive capacity and inequality
  • Risk registers score likelihood, consequence, confidence and risk ownership
  • Spatial exposure analysis identifies assets, services and vulnerable populations
  • Adaptive pathways compare actions under multiple climate futures

Participants can formulate and compare policy options using transparent decision criteria.

  • Theory of change links policy inputs, outputs, outcomes and impacts
  • Policy objectives written as measurable changes for defined populations
  • Adaptation options include structural, ecosystem-based, behavioural and institutional measures
  • Multi-criteria analysis weighs effectiveness, cost, feasibility, equity and co-benefits
  • Cost-effectiveness analysis compares unit costs of alternative resilience measures
  • Maladaptation screening tests lock-in, burden shifting and unintended harm

Participants can design governance arrangements that assign authority, accountability and participation.

  • Institutional mapping identifies mandates, decision rights, resources and coordination gaps
  • RACI matrix clarifies responsible, accountable, consulted and informed parties
  • Stakeholder analysis maps influence, interests, rights and participation methods
  • Meaningful consultation addresses access, representation, consent and feedback loops
  • Climate justice considers distributional impacts, procedural fairness and historical responsibility
  • Conflict-resolution protocols address competing land, water and investment priorities

Participants can align adaptation policy with mitigation commitments and transition priorities.

  • Mitigation and adaptation synergies identified through sector policy analysis
  • Trade-off analysis examines land, water, energy and livelihood impacts
  • Just transition principles address workers, communities, affordability and inclusion
  • Carbon pricing, standards and incentives influence adaptation-related investment decisions
  • Sector pathways connect emissions targets with resilience and service continuity
  • Policy sequencing avoids stranded assets and contradictory public investments

Participants can connect climate policy priorities to budgets, financing instruments and investment cases.

  • Climate budget tagging identifies expenditure relevant to adaptation and mitigation
  • Public investment appraisal includes climate risks, benefits and residual losses
  • Project concept notes define rationale, costs, beneficiaries and implementation arrangements
  • Green Climate Fund investment criteria and country ownership requirements
  • Blended finance structures allocate risks among public and private parties
  • Climate-related financial disclosures connect policy choices with financial risk

Participants can convert approved climate policy into sequenced and accountable implementation actions.

  • Implementation roadmaps sequence actions, dependencies, milestones and responsible owners
  • Regulatory impact assessment tests compliance costs, benefits and administrative burden
  • Public procurement specifications embed climate resilience and lifecycle requirements
  • Operating procedures translate policy measures into routine service delivery
  • Capacity assessments identify skills, staffing, data and systems requirements
  • Risk treatment plans establish contingencies, escalation routes and review triggers

Participants can build a monitoring and accountability framework for climate policy delivery.

  • Results frameworks connect policy actions with measurable resilience outcomes
  • Indicator selection uses relevance, feasibility, disaggregation and data quality criteria
  • Baselines and targets distinguish historical performance from intended change
  • Monitoring plans specify sources, frequency, ownership and quality assurance
  • Evaluation questions test effectiveness, equity, efficiency and unintended effects
  • Public reporting mechanisms support transparency, grievance handling and corrective action

Participants can apply course methods to a sector policy challenge and plan next actions.

  • Urban heat policies combine cooling, health surveillance and land-use controls
  • Water security planning addresses drought, demand management and allocation rules
  • Climate-resilient agriculture links extension services, insurance and market access
  • Coastal adaptation weighs protection, accommodation, ecosystem restoration and retreat
  • Policy design pack consolidates risks, options, governance, finance and indicators
  • Ninety-day action plan identifies sponsors, decisions, evidence and milestones

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Climate risk assessment template
  2. Climate policy theory of change
  3. Adaptation option appraisal matrix
  4. Climate governance RACI matrix
  5. Climate monitoring and evaluation framework
  6. Ninety-day implementation action plan

Who should attend

  • Climate Policy Officers — need to translate climate commitments into implementable policy measures
  • Government Planners — must integrate climate risk into plans, budgets and public investments
  • Sustainability Managers — require governance structures for corporate climate adaptation programmes
  • Infrastructure Managers — need to prioritise resilience measures for long-lived assets
  • Development Programme Managers — must design climate-resilient projects with measurable results
  • Risk and ESG Professionals — need policy context for physical risk and transition risk analysis

Skills and tools covered

Climate risk assessmentPolicy designAdaptation planningClimate governanceClimate financeMonitoring and evaluation

Tools and standards

IPCC risk framework, Paris Agreement, National Adaptation Plan process, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish key concepts, followed by policy cases, group analysis and facilitated decision exercises. Participants work with climate risk evidence, stakeholder maps, policy option matrices, governance models and monitoring indicators. Simulations examine competing priorities between ministries, communities, investors and service providers. Cases are adapted to the participant mix, including public policy, finance, infrastructure and development settings. Each participant applies the methods to a live or realistic mandate and develops a structured first-year action plan.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic familiarity with climate change concepts, their sector’s planning or decision processes, and the policy responsibilities of their organisation or government. Experience contributing to projects, strategies, budgets, risk assessments or stakeholder consultations is helpful. The course assumes comfort reading short policy documents and working with qualitative and simple quantitative evidence. Prior study of climate science, economics, environmental law, GIS, carbon accounting or climate modelling is not required. Participants do not need to bring an existing climate strategy, although a current work issue will help with application planning.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants need basic familiarity with climate change concepts and experience of planning, policy, projects, risk or sustainability work. Technical climate science, climate modelling and environmental law expertise are not required.

Bring a current climate-related policy, planning, infrastructure, finance or service-delivery issue if possible. Participants can also work from the course cases if they cannot share workplace material.

The course suits public-sector policy and planning staff, sustainability professionals, development managers, infrastructure leaders and risk professionals. It is designed for people who influence decisions rather than specialist climate scientists.

This course focuses on policy design, adaptation planning, governance, financing and implementation. It uses enough science to support decisions but does not train participants to build climate models or calculate organisational emissions inventories.

Participants receive reusable templates for assessing risk, comparing policy options, assigning governance responsibilities and monitoring results. The final module helps them identify a practical ninety-day action plan for their own mandate.

The programme contains ten modules delivered in teaching order, with approximately 6.5 contact hours each day. Time is divided between instructor input, case analysis, group work, decision simulations and individual application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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