Goal: broaden student’s understanding of climate change, climate policy and their impact on the future of business

Course of action: 4 h /week lecture series on climate change topics, plus 2 days simulation of UN climate change negotiations

10 participating European Business Schools

No. students: 150+

Level: Master

Est. in 2009

First established by the University of St.Gallen and ESADE Barcelona in 2009, the CEMS Model UNFCCC is a unique way of educating tomorrow’s business leaders on climate change. Now in its 13th edition, the course has grown to ten European business schools, and has been firmly established in the CEMS master’s in international management.

Since its inception, the course has educated more than a thousand CEMS Students and has received widespread media coverage (e.g. The Economist, Financial Times, Forbes). Additionally, the course has been the subject of academic publications (e.g. Nature Climate Change, Journal of Management Education) and has also been awarded with the CEMS Outstanding Award.

The CEMS Climate Change Course and its Model UNFCCC is a semester-long lecture series on the topic of climate change and climate policy at the Masters-level at the University of St.Gallen. The lecture series is followed by a unique two-day simulation of UN climate negotiations, where over 150 students from the University of St.Gallen and nine other CEMS universities play the roles of government, non-government and industry representatives.

HSG students simulating COP26 (2020)