• University of Exeter

Climate Change: Solutions

Explore the potential solutions to climate change and how they relate to the UN's sustainable development goals.

26,054 enrolled on this course

  • Duration

    4 weeks
  • Weekly study

    3 hours

Discover solutions to climate change

Man-made climate change is one of the biggest threats to the world. The effects are already being seen through receding glaciers, ocean acidification and an increasingly vulnerable food supply. It’s vital we work to find solutions to climate change.

On this course you will explore solutions to this global challenge, including mitigation, adaptation and geo-engineering, which can help avoid the most dangerous climate changes and increase the resilience of societies and ecosystems to climate changes that cannot be avoided.

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Skip to 0 minutes and 17 seconds Hello, I’m Tim Lenton, and I’m a professor of climate change and earth system science here at the University of Exeter. It’s easy to become disillusioned and depressed about how we’re changing the climate, but I want us to explore some of the positive responses and solutions to the extraordinary global challenge and to look at how we can create a better future together both for people and for this extraordinary planet we’re part of. Before we can tackle solutions to a problem as large as climate change, we need to introduce the concept of sustainable development. Addressing the sustainable development goals is integral to tackling the climate change challenge. And during this course, we’re going to focus on four of those goals.

Skip to 1 minute and 0 seconds Climate action and how we can best respond to changes in the earth systems through mitigation, adaptation, and geoengineering. Life on land and techniques to improving food security for an expanding population as well as strengthening the natural carbon sea. Life below water and what we can do to protect our oceans to create a healthy and flourishing marine ecosystem. Sustainable cities and communities and why it’s important for us to work together to design cities of the future that work in harmony with the natural world. I’ll be joined by academics from here at the University of Exeter who will help us identify practical solutions that work at scales from the international right down to what we can do in our own lives.

Skip to 1 minute and 46 seconds We’ll help you take action to live more sustainable. We don’t need to wait for politicians to start the movement to tackle climate change. There are actions that we can all take now as businesses, communities, and individuals to find solutions to this profound challenge. Join us now to find out more.

What topics will you cover?

Climate Action

  • Introduction to the Sustainable Development Goals
  • Sustainable Energy Production

Life on Land

  • Food security and agriculture
  • Strengthening the carbon sink

Life below Water

  • Pollution in our oceans
  • Sustainable fishing

Sustainable Cities and Communities

  • What do cities of the future look like?
  • Taking action into your own hands

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Describe the sustainable development goals and their links to climate change
  • Explore responses to climate change: mitigation, adaptation and geoengineering
  • Identify methods of making agriculture more sustainable and explore the viability of these methods
  • Debate the viability of solutions that help strengthen the terrestrial biosphere carbon sink
  • Explain possible solutions to reducing ocean acidification
  • Discuss methods and policies being implemented to reduce plastic in oceans
  • Describe how buildings and cities can be designed to be more sustainable
  • Apply the theme of ‘sustainable communities’ to the developing world

Who is the course for?

You don’t need any prior knowledge of climate change, just an interest in science, nature and the environment. However it might be useful to have completed the sister course to this one: Climate Change: The Science.

Who will you learn with?

Professor Tim Lenton is Chair in Climate Change/Earth System Science at the University of Exeter. His research focuses on understanding the behaviour of the Earth as a whole system.

Senior Lecturer at The University of Exeter specialising in Glaciology, GIS and Remote Sensing
Educator on Climate Change: Challenges and Solutions
Find me on twitter @DamienMansell

Lecturer at Leeds University researching the impacts of climate change on our world

Course producer for University of Exeter Global Systems Institute

@LiamTaylorIce

Who developed the course?

University of Exeter

The University of Exeter is a Russell Group university. It combines world-class research with very high levels of student satisfaction.

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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