Coming soon
Announcing The Reengineered Climate Change (CC) Specialist Certification
Register now to receive priority notifications regarding updates and key information.
Why have we updated Climate Change (CC) specialist certification?
From 1 January 2025, large Australian businesses and financial institutions are now required by law to include climate-related financial disclosures in their annual sustainability reports. These disclosures align with global frameworks by the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
As organisations work to meet these mandatory requirements, the updated certification provides a robust framework to verify professional expertise, enabling certified specialists to deliver transparent, compliant, and impactful climate assessments. The relaunch highlights the critical role of climate specialists in helping businesses navigate this regulatory environment and maintain stakeholder trust.
“The growing interest in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues is driving the biggest changes to financial reporting and disclosure standards in a generation. This is a transformational issue for global markets, and we need to be ready to meet that change at every step of its development.”
Joe Longo ASIC Chair
You can read the Mandatory Climate Reporting is Looming: Are You Ready? – White paper here.
Key Requirements
Educational Qualifications
An environmental degree or a degree with a substantial environmental component, with evidence of climate-related components, or experience in lieu of qualifications.
Referee Statements
Written references from three experienced environmental professionals, including an experienced Climate Change (CC) practitioner who is a CEnvP CC Specialist or would be eligible to apply for CEnvP CC Specialist certification themselves.
Work Experience
Ten (10) years of full-time equivalent experience in environmental practice in the last seventeen (17) years, with a minimum of five (5) recent years in the functional areas of climate change.
Experience in Lieu of Education
Ten (10) years full-time equivalent experience in the functional areas of climate change
Why become a CEnvP-certified Climate Change Specialist?
Meet the demands of mandatory climate reporting
Mandatory climate reporting frameworks require organisations to provide comprehensive, transparent, and auditable disclosures of climate-related risks and impacts. Ensure your expertise is formally recognised and position yourself as a climate professional capable of meeting these regulatory demands.
Gain recognition and unlock career opportunities
The Certified Environmental Practitioner Scheme (CEnvP) is a recognised benchmark of excellence, able to provide you with independent validation of your expertise in assessing, mitigating, and managing climate risks. Endorsed by industry leaders and regulators, this credential establishes your credibility as a trusted professional capable of meeting the highest standards of rigour and reliability.
Certified practitioners gain access to sought-after roles across consulting, corporate sustainability, and government, positioning them to lead in climate risk assessments, regulatory compliance, and strategic decision-making. Enhance your professional standing and expand your career opportunities in a rapidly growing field.
Be part of a trusted network shaping our climate future
The CEnvP Climate Change Specialist Certification connects you with a distinguished community of professionals who uphold the highest standards in climate risk management. This network plays a vital role in advancing best practices, informing regulatory developments, and supporting organisations in meeting mandatory reporting requirements. As a CEnvP-CC, you’ll be part of a trusted collective that not only enhances professional standards but also shapes the policies and frameworks critical to achieving global sustainability goals.
A strong foundation: forming the CC Advisory Committee
We are excited to announce that we are in the final stages of forming the Climate Change Specialist Special Environmental Advisory Committee (CC SEAC). This dedicated group of industry leaders and experts will play a pivotal role in maintaining the rigour, credibility, and relevance of the Climate Change Specialist Certification.
The CC SEAC ensures that the certification reflects the highest standards and latest developments in climate risk, adaptation, and mitigation. The SEAC’s oversight ensures that certified professionals meet the demands of mandatory reporting frameworks like TCFD while upholding ethical and professional excellence.
By aligning the certification with the expertise of this esteemed committee, you gain a credential that is widely trusted by regulators, industry, and organisations. This ensures your professional expertise is recognised as the benchmark of reliability and integrity in practice, positioning you to confidently navigate and lead in the fight against climate change.
The Climate Change Specialist Certification is a critical step in ensuring the integrity and reliability of climate risk assessments. Noting the importance of effective assessments for major projects, in sustainability rating schemes, and as climate-related disclosures become mandatory, certified professionals play a vital role in providing organisations and project stakeholders with the trusted expertise needed to ensure we are delivering resilient assets.“
Jon Panic, Director at Malo Sustainability Consulting, ISC Verifier/Trainer
Launching February 2025
Register now for priority updates
Important Information
Application Process
To be certified as a Climate Change Specialist, practitioners must also hold CEnvP (General) certification. Practitioners who do not already hold General certification can apply for both CEnvP (General) and Climate Change Specialist certification simultaneously.
Applications can be submitted online anytime during the year. Applications are usually processed within 3 to 6 months.
Please note:
• You can save your application and resume for 30 days. When clicking the ‘Save and Resume Later’ button you will receive a link to your application via email. If you do not send yourself the link, you will have to start the application again.
• Your incomplete application for certification is active for 30 days. After 30 days, your application is voided automatically on our systems.
• Incomplete or flawed applications will be delayed until all missing documentation is received. This may delay your application process.
As part of the application process, you will be required to attend an online interview with a panel of three certified practitioners. During the interview, you will be asked a series of questions related to training, skills, knowledge, experience, contribution to and understanding of environmental practice, ethical behaviour, and other professional attitudes.
For example:
1. You will be asked about how you applied your skills in an ethical and professional environmental practice context.
2. You will be provided with one or more Ethical Scenarios to respond to.
3. You will need to elaborate on your work experience and comment on specific roles in the context of being a competent professional within your nominated areas of environmental practice.
4. You will be expected to discuss your understanding of sustainability and how your work has made a contribution to sustainability, environmental protection and practice excellence.
5. You will need to comment on your capacity to undertake Continuing Professional Development (CPD) while certified.
Application fees
The lodged application form must be accompanied by a non- refundable application fee. Please see further information on fees.
Advice on receipt of the application will be sent to the candidate. In case of an incomplete application, it will be referred to the candidate for correction.
Application fees are non-refundable unless it is obvious to the Registrar that the applicant cannot meet the certification criteria. In this case the application will be returned to the applicant together with a portion of the application fee.
The annual fee for the first year is calculated on a pro-rata basis from the month a practitioner was certified.
Certification Requirements
Educational Qualifications: An environmental degree or a degree with a substantial environmental component, with evidence of climate-related components.
Experience in Lieu of Education
Ten (10) years full-time equivalent experience in the functional areas of climate change.
Work Experience
Ten (10) years of full-time equivalent experience in environmental practice in the last seventeen (17) years, with a minimum of five (5) recent years in the functional areas of climate change.
Referee Statements
Written references from experienced environmental professionals, including an experienced Climate Change (CC) practitioner who is a CEnvP CC Specialist or would be eligible to apply for CEnvP CC Specialist certification themselves.
Key Proficiencies
Applicants must demonstrate proficient understanding in the following two areas:
Climate Change Science
– Greenhouse gases, the greenhouse effect and climate change
– Anthropogenic Climate change and the causes
– Scenario modelling
– Climate Change data and sources
– Communicating Climate Change science
Climate Risk Assessment
– Australia or New Zealand Standards, and the international standards that apply
– Physical risks (Acute and Chronic relating to climate change); consequence and impact modelling
– Transitional risks (from response to climate change), including but not limited to:
– Policy and Legal
– Technology
– Market
– Reputation
– Global agreements
– Domestic legislation
– International trading policies
Applicants must demonstrate proficient or functional understanding in the following three areas with at least one of these being proficient:
Adaptation Pathways
Transition Planning and decision-making, including:
– Project management or technical assessments for climate initiatives (emission reduction planning and strategies, atmospheric removals or adaptation/transition pathways).
– Mitigation options
– Adaptation (resilience building) options
– Carbon credits
Greenhouse Gas Accounting
– International Protocols and standards
– Accounting methods
– Carbon Foot printing
– Emissions measurement
– Carbon Accounting
Policy, Legal and Regulatory Framework
– Legislation relevant to the jurisdiction in which they work
– International agreements
Eligibility (Education)
A degree that includes core elements of climate change study will generally constitute the minimum requirement. The tertiary qualification may be (for example) an environmental, economic, social, science, engineering, accountancy, or health degree that included climate change courses or electives. Verification of climate change content must be provided, e.g. a transcript or academic record. Ten (10) years of appropriate work experience may be submitted in lieu of a suitable tertiary qualification.
Because Climate Change is a young profession, some climate change practitioners may not have a suitable climate change related tertiary qualification. They may have learnt either by doing, e.g. policy development, fire management, or have studied before qualifications were available. They will need to verify that they have developed skills over at least ten (10) years of on-the-job learning.
Professional Competency
Evidence to support claims of Climate Change specialist proficiency applicants will be required to:
Submit an essay style document responding to the following five (5) questions:
1. How do your skills and experience demonstrate that you meet each of the five (5) key proficiencies?
2. How have you demonstrated your analytical skills that draw on your knowledge and experience?
3. How have you demonstrated your interpersonal and Climate Change communication skills across a range of stakeholders?
4. What is an instance of stakeholder concern or conflict you have addressed, and how did you address this?
5. What are some of the key professional challenges you have had to deal with?
5a. Why did you make the decisions you did?
5b. What environmental outcome did you achieve? To what extent did your advice influence the outcome?
5c. In hindsight, could you have achieved a better outcome?
– Submit at least one (1) climate risk assessment or a risk assessment review report, where the applicant has been a lead contributor, to demonstrate proficiency in Climate Risk Assessment.
– Submit two (2) to four (4) additional documents where the applicant has been a key contributor that demonstrate professional competency in the other required key proficiencies and the application of appropriate methods, standards and tools
– Submit an accompanying statement for each of the submitted reports answering the following six (6) questions:
1. What were the key features and context of the project?
2. What was your role in preparing the documented evidence?
3. Over what time period were these reports written?
4. Which parts of which reports demonstrate proficiencies?
5. What were the key learnings of each report for the report’s recipient (no more than 5)?
6. What are the key limitations of this work?
For reference, an overview of other certification requirements as Evidence of Proficiency is available here.
Commitment to CPD
Continuing Professional Development (requirement post- certification)
CEnvP-CC practitioners are required to complete one hundred points biennially, with fifty points contributing to the climate change field.
Specialist applicants must provide evidence supporting any claims of any recent CPD activity with the application. The activity must be completed on the official CEnvP CPD Log form. Please see CPD guidelines for further information.
About the CEnvP scheme
We are the leading certifying body for environmental and social practitioners in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand
The Certified Environmental Practitioner (CEnvP) Scheme is the leading certification program for environmental professionals across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Operating under rigorous standards, the CEnvP Scheme recognises practitioners who demonstrate exceptional expertise, ethical practice, and commitment to environmental sustainability.
A Thriving Community of Over 1,200 Practitioners across 9 certifications
Join a diverse network of certified professionals, fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing across various environmental disciplines.
ISO 17024:2013 Aligned
Aligned with ISO 17024:2013 ensures the highest standards of credibility, reliability, and trust in your professional qualifications.
Established 2004
Backed by more than 21 years of experience, CEnvP is a trusted and established certification program supporting environmental professionals in their careers.