Climate action is more urgent than ever: we are far off track to meet the Paris Agreement goals, government action remains slow, and climate impacts are already felt globally. This raises a crucial question: can voluntary climate action by businesses, cities, NGOs, and transnational initiatives help close the gap? These voluntary climate actions show great promise, yet their integrity is widely debated. Concerns about effectiveness, greenwashing, accountability, and inequitable outcomes highlight the need for clearer standards and stronger governance.
This summer school offers an inter- and transdisciplinary introduction to the integrity of voluntary climate action, combining conceptual insights with practical tools. Participants will learn how to map the landscape of voluntary climate action, understand core integrity challenges, and apply assessment approaches used in current research and policy debates. By the end of the week, participants leave with a concrete roadmap: a clear, practical pathway for higher-integrity and accelerated climate action, sharpened through peer exchange and discussion with people working at the front lines of climate governance.
We welcome graduate students, early career researchers and professionals who want to deepen their understanding of voluntary climate action, sharpen their analytical skills, and contribute to building credible, high-impact climate action.
This course is organized by the Horizon Europe-funded research project ACHIEVE, in collaboration with Camda, BioCam4 and the Earth System Governance Project.
Learning objectives
- Provide an overview of voluntary climate action and identify key actors, mechanisms, and integrity challenges.
- Apply conceptual and practical assessment approaches to evaluate integrity concerns such as effectiveness, greenwashing, accountability, and equity.
- Create evidence-based recommendations for strengthening the integrity and real-world impact of voluntary climate action.
- Collaborate in inter- and trans-disciplinary teams integrating diverse perspectives to analyse and design strategies for high-integrity climate action exploring synergies across diverse priority areas.
