For the purposes of certification, specialisation in Climate Change is defined as professional competency in the scientific principles, risk assessment methodologies, adaptation strategies, regulatory frameworks and greenhouse gas accounting practices related to environmental aspects of Climate Change. Certification under the CEnvP Scheme is designed to promote and embed sound practice by recognising ethical and professionally competent practitioners in these areas of practice.
Applications will not be accepted from candidates with no ANZ practice experience; applicants with overseas experience must also demonstrate at least two years of environmental practice in Australia and/or New Zealand.
Overview
To qualify for CEnvP-CC you need:
• Educational Qualifications: An environmental degree or a degree with a substantial environmental component, with evidence of climate-related components. (Not required for current CEnvPs).
• Work experience in lieu of educational qualifications: At the discretion of the Certification Board, ten (10) years of appropriate experience in lieu of education may be assessed for equivalence with educational qualifications.
• Work Experience: Ten (10) years of full-time experience in the functional areas of environmental practice gained during the last seventeen (17) years, with a minimum of five (5) recent years in the functional areas of climate change, verifiable by nominated Work Verifiers.
• A Curriculum Vitae: Containing as much detail as possible (experience, roles and responsibilities, skills, outcomes, project list etc.) to evidence you are a respected, competent, ethical and active member of the profession.
Please avoid marketing-style CVs or promotional documents. CVs that are overly generic, visually stylised for sales or branding purposes, or lacking in technical substance may not meet assessment requirements.
• Referees: Nomination of three (3) experienced environmental professionals who are willing to act as Referees with at least one (1) being a current CEnvP-CC or eligible to be a CEnvP-CC and one (1) being external to your current place of employment.
• Areas of Practice: Nomination of one to three (1 – 3) areas of practice that you currently or have been working in.
• Key Proficiencies and Professional Competency: Through written demonstration and documentary evidence:
1- A statement demonstrating the six (6) Key Proficiencies
2- At least one (1) climate risk assessment or a risk assessment review report, where you been a lead contributor, to demonstrate proficiency in Climate Risk Assessment
3- Two (2) to four (4) additional documents where you have been a key contributor that demonstrate professional competency in the other required key proficiencies and the application of appropriate methods, standards and tools.
4- An accompanying statement for each of the submitted reports and documents.
• Past CPD: Detailing previous undertaken training and professional development is highly recommended. (Not required for current CEnvPs).
• Future CPD: Demonstration of ongoing commitment to training and professional development via a CPD plan that will meet the minimum one hundred (100) CPD points biennially once certified. (Not required for current CEnvPs).
• Commitment to ethics and professional practice: Including acceptance of the EIANZ Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. (Not required for current CEnvPs).
• Statement of Claim: A signed and witnessed statutory declaration confirming the accuracy of the materials provided to the Certification Board.
• Optional additional documentation: Such as reports, publications, presentations, awards etc.
Application Process
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 and a non-refundable application fee applies.
Applications are usually processed within 3 to 6 months. However, incomplete or flawed applications will be delayed until all missing documentation is received.
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, you will:
1. Be asked about how you applied your skills in an ethical and professional environmental practice context.
2. Be provided with one (1) or more Ethical Scenarios to respond to.
3. 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. Be expected to discuss your understanding of sustainability and how your work has contributed to sustainability, environmental protection and practice excellence.
5. Need to comment on your capacity to undertake Continuing Professional Development (CPD) while certified.
Successful applicants will receive an official CEnvP certificate, a personalised CEnvP seal to use and will be entitled to use the title ‘Certified Environmental Practitioner’ and the post-nominal letters ‘CEnvP-CC’ as follows: Mr/s Alex Doe BSc CEnvP-CC.
To maintain your CEnvP status renewal fees must be paid annually and evidence of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) must be provided on a two-year basis. The certification fee for the first year is calculated on a pro-rata basis from the month a practitioner was certified.
Unsuccessful applications can be either deferred for a period no longer than twelve (12) months or rejected and will receive an outcome letter from the Certification Board addressing their decision and shortcomings identified during the application process. Deferred applicants may re-apply within the deferral period without charge when the conditions of the deferral have been met.
Eligibility and Evidence
Educational Qualifications
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.
Evidence of your qualifications is required in the form of certified copies (refer to the FAQs on our website for a list of authorised signatories in Australia, and in New Zealand). These must be uploaded and submitted together with the online application. Alternatively, direct access via My eQuals is also accepted.
Evidence of Name Change will be required if your current name differs from the name on the educational qualifications.
Work Experience
The minimum requirement is ten (10) years of full-time equivalent professional experience in the functional areas of environmental practice gained during the last seventeen (17) years, with a minimum of five (5) recent years in the functional areas of Climate Change. For those without a suitable Climate Change related qualification, the five (5) years of climate change practice is extended to ten (10) years.
Only experience gained after obtaining the lowest level of eligible educational qualifications can be counted towards the experience required.
Work experience timeframe: The seventeen (17) year window allows part-time workers as well as those returning to the workforce from a long leave period associated with caring, illness or parental leave, to meet the required full-time equivalence work experience.
For the purpose of calculating full-time equivalent (FTE) work experience, no more than thirty-five (35) hours per week will be recognised (even if working for more than one (1) employer at the time) and the following metrics are used:
• Full-time / 1.0 (35 hrs / week),
• 4 days / 0.8 (28 hrs / week),
• 3 days / 0.6 (21 hrs / week),
• 2 days / 0.4 (14 hrs / week),
• 1 day / 0.2 (7 hrs / week).
Functional work experience: Supervisory, teaching, research, policy, regulation, community development work, conservation work and volunteer work may be recognised as contributing to the years of ‘functional experience’, providing you can demonstrate how these have contributed to relevant competence.
Applicants with experience in lieu of education: In exceptional circumstances, ten (10) years of appropriate work experience may be submitted in lieu of a suitable tertiary qualification.
Work Verifiers: The experience claimed must be independently verified by a “Work Verifier”, a current or former employer, senior colleague, or Referee who knew you at that time and can specifically confirm the experience claimed. Work Verifiers are required to complete an online form sent to them by email after the application has been submitted (please ensure they are notified beforehand). These individuals may be contacted by the Administration team, Registrar, Assessment Panel or Certification Board.
Referees
Applicants must nominate three (3) respected environmental professionals as referees, ensuring the following criteria are met:
• At least one (1) must be an experienced Climate Change practitioner who is either a CEnvP-CC Specialist or would be eligible to apply for CEnvP-CC Specialist certification themselves.
• At least one (1) must be external to your current place of employment
• All referees must have must have known you for at least two (2) years in roles such as supervisor, educator, senior peer or client and must be able to comment on your experience, skills and attributes as they relate to the relevant areas of practice, ethics and professional integrity,
• Referees who are not CEnvPs must provide sufficient information / CV / LinkedIn in the Referee report to demonstrate that they are experienced environmental professionals.
Nominated Referees will be required to fill in an online Report sent to them by email after the Application form has been submitted. Please ensure the Referees are notified beforehand.
Areas of Practice
Areas of Practice are fields you are currently or have been working in (and not recognised as a CEnvP
specialisation). The Areas of Practice you nominate will be discussed during your interview. Once you are certified, these will be used in online profiles and directories.
Key Proficiencies
You must be able to demonstrate knowledge and experience across SIX (6) areas of proficiency in both your written application and at interview to achieve Climate Change Specialist certification.
For Proficiencies 1 – 2, you must demonstrate that you have PROFICIENT understanding.
1. 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
2. Policy, Legal and Regulatory Framework
• Legislation, regulatory requirements and plans relevant to the jurisdiction in which you work e.g. Climate Financial Disclosure requirements
• International agreements
For Proficiencies 3 – 6, you must demonstrate that you have PROFICIENT or FUNCTIONAL understanding, with at least one of these being PROFICIENT.
3. Adaptation Pathways
• Adaptation Planning frameworks e.g. Dynamic Adaptative Pathways Planning (DAPP)
• Assessment of climate hazard assessments for geographically different locations
• Knowledge of impact of climate hazards on physical assets, services and operations, networks
• Technical assessments of planning scenarios/pathways for building resilience
• Understanding of impact of cascading hazards on wider community/populations and outcomes
• Development of adaptation options for long-term community resilience
4. Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting
• International Protocols and standards
• Accounting Methods/Inventories
• Carbon Foot printing
• Emission measurement
• Carbon Credits
• Relevant carbon mitigation methods/options
• Relevant reporting requirements: Climate Financial Disclosure Inventories
5. Climate Risk Assessment
• Standards in the jurisdiction in which you work, 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
6. Climate Related Risk Reporting and Disclosures (Note: not all bullets need to be satisfied but at least 2 areas should be able to be demonstrated to reflect proficiency)
• Governance and risk integration aligned to local standards: Capability to embed climate risks and opportunities in enterprise risk management —consistent with New Zealand’s XRB Aotearoa Climate Standards (NZ CS 1–3) or Australia’s ISSB‑aligned ASRS 1 (general requirements) and ASRS 2 (climate).
• Scenario analysis and quantification: Skill in developing and applying credible physical and transition scenarios, testing resilience over short, medium and long terms, and linking outcomes to strategy—meeting scenario and resilience expectations under NZ CS 1 and ASRS 2.
• Metrics, baselines and targets: Robust greenhouse gas inventories (Scopes 1–3) and other decision‑useful indicators, strong data governance and audit trails, and credible target‑setting and tracking—aligned with NZ CS 1/3 and ASRS 2, using recognised methods (e.g., GHG Protocol) and sector‑appropriate KPIs.
• Transition planning: Ability to build a practical, time‑bound plan to deliver targets—covering pathways, capital allocation, operations, products/services, workforce and supply chain, policy/technology dependencies, and governance for delivery and monitoring—so disclosures under NZ CS 1 and ASRS 2 are supported by an actionable plan.
• Financial translation, reporting and assurance readiness: Translate risks and plans into financial effects (revenues, costs, asset lives, capex/opex, cash flows), ensure consistency across governance, strategy, risk, metrics and targets, and maintain repeatable processes, controls and documentation to support external reporting and assurance under the XRB and ASRS frameworks.
Definitions
For clarity in expectations, the Certification Scheme uses consistent definitions of “proficient” and “functional” across its specialisations:
Proficient Understanding
• Sound knowledge of competency element
• Broad experience
• Demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and experience to achieve objectives for a range of common issues
• Awareness of limitation of skills and the ability to identify where and how to obtain expert advice for complex issues
• Ability to communicate effectively and at a proficient level about typical issues
Functional Understanding
• Basic level of knowledge of competency element
• Limited relevant experience
• Ability to apply knowledge and experience to achieve objectives for simple issues
• Awareness of limitation of skills and the ability to identify where solutions might be sought to issues
• Ability to communicate effectively within the limits of knowledge
Professional Competency
As evidence to support claims of Climate Change Specialist proficiencies you are required to:
• Submit a statement showcasing your professional work and development in Climate Change practice, addressing the five (5) questions:
1. Describe your skills and experience and demonstrate how you meet all six (6) key proficiencies
2. Describe how you have utilised your analytical skills, drawing on your knowledge and experience to address a specific question or challenge
3. Describe how you have demonstrated your interpersonal and Climate Change communication skills across a range of stakeholders
4. Provide examples of challenging stakeholder situations or conflicts you have experienced in relation to one or more of the areas of proficiency, and how you addressed them
5. Describe some of the key professional challenges you have had to deal with, including:
5.a) Why you made the decisions you did
5.b) What environmental, social or economic outcome you achieved. How did this improve the
way climate change is managed? To what extent did your advice influence the outcome?
5.c) In hindsight, could you have achieved a better outcome? How?
• Submit at least one (1) climate risk assessment or a risk assessment review report, where you have
been a lead contributor, to demonstrate proficiency in Climate Risk Assessment.
• Submit two (2) to four (4) additional documents where you have been a key contributor that
demonstrate professional competency in the other required key proficiencies and the application
of appropriate methods, standards and tools.
In addition, submit an accompanying statement for each of the submitted reports and documents, 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 documents written?
4. Which parts of which documents demonstrate proficiencies?
5. What were the key learnings of each document for the document’s recipient? (no more than 5).
6. What are the key limitations of this work?
Commitment to CPD (Continued Professional Development)
To demonstrate commitment to CPD, you will need to provide details of:
• Past CPD. It is strongly recommended you submit a CPD log of the past two (2) years of activities or a statement explaining your past activities to enable the Registrar, Assessment Panel and Certification Board to ascertain your understanding of the requirement post certification.
• Future CPD. Provide a plan to accrue at least one hundred (100) CPD points biennially once certified. This should include the type of activities and the number of hours you are expecting to spend for each of them.
Ethical Conduct and Statement of Claim
It is intrinsic to the CEnvP Scheme that Certified Practitioners behave with the highest levels of integrity and professional conduct. Applicants are therefore asked to:
• ensure you have read, understood and confirmed that you abide by the EIANZ Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct.
• disclose matters relevant to past issues of professional conduct.
A statutory declaration confirming accuracy of the provided materials is required.
Important Information
Before you begin your online application form:
1- Read the Guidance Notes to ensure you meet the eligibility criteria for certification.
2- Review the Application Checklist to confirm you have all the necessary information and documents.
3- Download the following Templates: Official Statement of Claim, CPD Log, Commitment to CPD Statement and Key Proficiencies.
Once you start your application form you can save and resume later. However, the last saved link is only valid for 30 days.