Hi! It’s konkaz (@konkazuk).
In response to the growing urgency of the climate crisis, I recently completed a six-week online course at the London School of Economics, Politics and Policy of Climate Change and Sustainability, to deepen my understanding of climate policy.
After finishing the course, I started wondering what my next step should be. While doing some research, I came across recommendations to take part in a Carbon Literacy training session.
So I booked a spot and decided to give it a go.
This post is a quick report on how it went.
What is “Carbon Literacy”?
First, Carbon Literacy is…
a practical climate education programme designed to help people understand climate change and turn that knowledge into real action.
Rather than simply building knowledge, it focuses on how to actually take action.
With the climate crisis becoming more serious, it’s not just governments and businesses — we as individuals are also expected to understand the situation and take action. That’s one reason why Carbon Literacy has been growing so quickly, especially in the UK.
The programme is open to a wide range of people, including corporate staff, small and medium-sized businesses, and local government employees, as well as individual participants like myself.
The training I attended was aimed at local businesses in partnership with the Southwark Climate Collective, so it included a lot of practical content that people could use straight away in their workplaces.
The Carbon Literacy Training also requires participants to submit an action plan based on what they learned in the session. Once it’s approved, they receive a formal “Carbon Literacy Certificate”.
I took part in a one-day training by Positive Planet
The training I attended was a one-day Carbon Literacy session provided by Positive Planet, which works in partnership with the Southwark Climate Collective (SCC).
It took place in a meeting-room-like space on the top floor of the library, which you can see as soon as you exit Canada Water station.
The session lasted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and there were about 15 participants, including myself.
As I mentioned earlier, individuals can join, but the training mainly targets staff from SMEs and companies, focusing on how to integrate decarbonisation programmes into their workplaces. Therefore, since I attended for personal reasons rather than on behalf of my company, I might have been a bit of an odd fit.
… But even so, since we all wanted to learn more about climate change and think about what we could do, there was no awkward tension, and I was able to stay positive throughout.
As for the trainer, P.K. Whalen, she’s a true professional with extensive experience in everything from marine and wildlife conservation to law enforcement, human resource development, and consulting.
With over 20 years of experience, she was incredibly knowledgeable and ran the session in a very clear and easy-to-follow way. It really reminded me that, in the end, communication skills make all the difference.
The content covered a wide range of practical topics, including the types of greenhouse gases and their characteristics, individual and organisational carbon footprints, ways to change our behaviour, and specific actions participants could take immediately. And group discussions were included to make the learning more practical and engaging.
Especially in the second half, the trainer was very helpful, even sharing tips on how to write the action plan that you need to submit to obtain the Carbon Literacy Certificate.
Wrapping up
To be honest, I was feeling quite down after the disappointing outcomes of COP30, which was held not long ago. But thanks to this training, a sense of positivity has really come back.
I felt a real sense of urgency when PK stressed that we shouldn’t rely on offsets. At the same time, I was deeply moved by the way organisations like Positive Planet are encouraging companies to take responsible actions for the future of humanity. I truly think such organisations are incredibly valuable.
So, whether or not I manage to get the certificate, I’d like to take a moment to say a big thank you.
To PK from Positive Planet, Sam from MP Smarter Travel who supported the event, and all the participants who created such a positive atmosphere on the day — thank you so much!
konkaz
*You can read this blog post in Japanese from the link below.
👉 カーボンリテラシーとは？Positive Planet のトレーニング体験レポート