How Do We Manage Climate Change? (Coursera)

How Do We Manage Climate Change? (Coursera)

In this course, learners will identify the types of actions that we can pursue to address climate change. These actions fall into two broad categories: 1) mitigation, which refers to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or enhance carbon sinks, and 2) adaptation, which refers to our preparations for climate impacts. We will explore the technologies, programs, and policies related to both mitigation and adaptation. Learners should leave the course with an improved ability to identify and evaluate climate actions undertaken by communities, governments, and businesses.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

What You Will Learn

  • Explain the overall goals of mitigation and adaptation policies
  • Describe the primary sources of and recent trends in greenhouse gas emissions in the United States
  • Explain the concept of climate risk, and describe its components
  • Provide examples of mitigation policies and adaptation efforts

Course 2 of 3 in the Exploring Our Responses to Climate Change Specialization

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Overview of Climate Action
We will define and discuss examples of mitigation and adaptation.

WEEK 2
Reducing Emissions
We will dive deeper into climate mitigation, examining the various strategies for reducing emissions. We will also explore some of the policy tools, like carbon pricing, that can motivate and accelerate emissions reductions.

WEEK 3
Managing Climate Risk Through Adaptation
We will define climate risk, and demonstrate how adaptation strategies attempt to address different drivers of risk.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Villes africaines: Environnement et enjeux de développement durable (Coursera) Coursera
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Villes africaines: Environnement et enjeux de développement durable (Coursera)

Le cours propose une lecture de l’environnement urbain en Afrique à travers les thématiques les plus pertinentes pour mesurer le niveau de développement d’un pays : eau et vie urbaine, assainissement (eaux usées et pluviales), gestion des déchets solides, agriculture urbaine. Après avoir analysé les différents enjeux de celles-ci, nous aborderons les liens entre environnement urbain et santé.

Sep 21st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Driving business towards the Sustainable Development Goals (Coursera) Coursera
Erasmus University Rotterdam

Driving business towards the Sustainable Development Goals (Coursera)

Extreme weather events, wars, famine and environmental destruction are just a few of the wicked problems faced by humanity. That’s why in 2015 the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This agenda includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that target the big challenges such as how to eliminate poverty, how to protect the environment and how to bring about peace. Every member state committed to achieving these goals by 2030. What can businesses do to counter climate change and create a sustainable business culture? Why is this relevant for business anyway? Explore how business can contribute to a better future for people AND the planet without giving up profits.

Sep 21st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Sustainable Development - Ideas and Imaginaries (Coursera) Coursera
University of Copenhagen

Sustainable Development - Ideas and Imaginaries (Coursera)

Ideas and imaginaries inspire human capacity for great endeavours, but ‘conventional wisdom’ frequently prevents necessary change. Achievement of global sustainable development is, therefore, dependent on a profound comprehension of the preunderstandings and implicit imaginaries that form both our perception of reality and our basic confidence in the viability of transgressive action.

Sep 21st 2026
4 Weeks
Sustainable Vikings: Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility in Scandinavia (Coursera) Coursera
Copenhagen Business School

Sustainable Vikings: Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility in Scandinavia (Coursera)

This course gives you immediate access to the world leading sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. Scandinavian firms dominate the major sustainability and CSR performance indicators including the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). In this course we explore the concepts of sustainability and CSR and focus attention on how Scandinavian firms, like Novo Nordisk, have achieved superior sustainability and CSR performances.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Sustainable Fashion (Coursera) Coursera
Copenhagen Business School

Sustainable Fashion (Coursera)

Sometimes when we say we work with sustainable fashion people look at us like... "Mmmm, is it really possible for something like fashion to be sustainable?" And let's face it, people are right being suspicious. If anything the fashion industry has become increasingly unsustainable over the last decades, using more and more natural resources and creating more and more waste.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Transformation of the Global Food System (Coursera) Coursera
University of Copenhagen

Transformation of the Global Food System (Coursera)

The UN predicts we will be 9-10 billion people on Earth in 2050. Providing so many people with nutritious foods is a massive challenge and one that cannot be met by simply upscaling current practices regarding food production and consumption. Providing humanity with nutritional food is at the center of all decisions related to sustainable development.

Sep 21st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Sustainable Urban Regeneration (Coursera) Coursera
Università Bocconi

Sustainable Urban Regeneration (Coursera)

The transformation of land use, functions, and services in cities represents an opportunity to foster sustainable development, contributing to local and global challenges. Urban regeneration is a key area to govern change, attract investments, engage stakeholders, and generate multiple benefits in both developed and developing countries.

Sep 21st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Photovoltaic Systems (Coursera) Coursera
Technical University of Denmark - DTU

Photovoltaic Systems (Coursera)

This course offers you advanced knowledge within the field of photovoltaic system technology. We'll learn about the solar resource and how photovoltaic energy conversion is used to produce electric power. From this fundamental starting point we'll cover the design and fabrication of different solar cell and module technologies, the various photovoltaic system components, how to design a photovoltaic plant and carry out energy yield simulations, essentials in energy economics, O&M and reliability assessment, as well as the role of photovoltaic energy in sustainable energy systems.

Sep 15th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Managing Responsibly: Practicing Sustainability, Responsibility and Ethics (Coursera) Coursera
University of Manchester

Managing Responsibly: Practicing Sustainability, Responsibility and Ethics (Coursera)

Managers are increasingly confronted with issues of sustainability, responsibility and ethics. Managing responsibly is an integrative approach to sustainability, responsibility and ethics, which allows you as a manager to deal competently with such challenges. This course will facilitate your learning process to engage in changing practices to make them more sustainable, responsible, and ethically informed.

Sep 21st 2026
5-12 Weeks