This course will provide an overview of climate science before examining the technical, economic and political realities of potential climate change interventions across six major climate sectors. These range from energy to industry to farming and forestry. Students will apply this knowledge both via individual study efforts and by a group project tasked with setting a pathway to net zero for a chosen country.

This course is a core course to support the Centre for Climate Science and Engineering. It is intended to provide a technical overview of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, especially as related to large civil systems (energy, transportation, buildings) as well strategies as industry and fuel extraction. A second course, focused on climate adaptation has also been developed, and is currently being revamped prior to applying for a permanent code. The two courses together are intended to work in conjunction to fill important gaps in engineering education related to managing climate change.

This course is unique in its focus on system-wide GHG emission pathways and scientifically informed GHG reduction targets, along with its analysis of a wide range of technological solutions and their interactions. While the course contains a significant technical component, climate change mitigation requires a more complete understanding of the policy and political context, which is often lacking from other engineering courses. This course will thus adopt an interdisciplinary approach — focused on engineering, but integrating broader insights necessary to educate engineers with a systems-level understanding of climate change strategies.