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The Science of Climate Change

Climate change is no longer a distant threat or just a possibility, it is now a reality for all of us. In this pathway, Kevin Trenberth, a renowned climatologist, delves into the science behind climate change. He first introduces the climate system, its main components and forces.

Tackling the Plastic Crisis

Plastic pollution is by far the biggest threat to our oceans and this remains an incredibly tough problem to solve. Plastic credits could potentially serve as one of the much needed solutions for this crisis.

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The Scale of the Net Zero Challenge

The price of meeting net zero is estimated to be between $100-150 trillion over the next 30 years. Regardless of this cost, we need to reach net zero before climate change does irreversible damage to the environment and the economy.

ESG, Sustainability and Impact Jargon Buster

ESG, sustainability, impact… they all just mean green, right? Not quite. Despite being used often interchangeably, there are distinct differences between these terms.

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Featured Pathways

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The Science of Climate Change

Climate change is no longer a distant threat or just a possibility, it is now a reality for all of us. In this pathway, Kevin Trenberth, a renowned climatologist, delves into the science behind climate change. He first introduces the climate system, its main components and forces.

Tackling the Plastic Crisis

Plastic pollution is by far the biggest threat to our oceans and this remains an incredibly tough problem to solve. Plastic credits could potentially serve as one of the much needed solutions for this crisis.

More pathways

Book a demo

Pricing

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Plans & Membership

Our Platform

Expert led content

+1,000 expert presented, on-demand video modules

Learning analytics

Keep track of learning progress with our comprehensive data

Interactive learning

Engage with our video hotspots and knowledge check-ins

Testing & certification

Gain CPD / CPE credits and professional certification

Managed learning

Build, scale and manage your organisation’s learning

Integrations

Connect Sustainability Unlocked to your current platform

Featured Content

More featured content

The Scale of the Net Zero Challenge

The price of meeting net zero is estimated to be between $100-150 trillion over the next 30 years. Regardless of this cost, we need to reach net zero before climate change does irreversible damage to the environment and the economy.

ESG, Sustainability and Impact Jargon Buster

ESG, sustainability, impact… they all just mean green, right? Not quite. Despite being used often interchangeably, there are distinct differences between these terms.

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What are Unintended Consequences?

What are Unintended Consequences?

Paul Orlando

25 years: Systems specialist

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, or so they say. In the first video of this series, Paul Orlando lays down the basics for what a system is and explores how second-order thinking leads to unintended consequences and system surprises.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, or so they say. In the first video of this series, Paul Orlando lays down the basics for what a system is and explores how second-order thinking leads to unintended consequences and system surprises.

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What are Unintended Consequences?

6 mins 32 secs

Overview

A system is a collection of parts that relate to each other, with a boundary. Understanding what those parts are, how they are related or connected, and what behaviour we might see can be surprising - and therefore lead to unintended consequences. Unintended consequences can be defined as when we take an action and the result is something other than we expected. This is usually caused by failure to consider the outcomes of the outcomes.

Key learning objectives:

  • Learn what a system is

  • Define unintended consequences

  • Understand first and second-order thinking

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Summary

What is a system?

A system is a collection of parts that relate to each other. Understanding what those parts are, how they are related or connected, and what behaviour we might see can be surprising. A system has a boundary. Some systems are part of our natural world and emerged over long time scales. Some are created by people and may change rapidly but will often have a purpose. 

What is a contemporary example of a system?

The education system is a good example of a system. The number of students entering primary school, how likely they are to complete their education and apply to university, the range and availability of good career prospects they have when they graduate, what fields of study happen to be popular at the time, how well-prepared they are, the economies of different countries, government subsidies and the likelihood of students to study abroad are parts of that system. 

Changing one part can lead to a change somewhere else. Universities that expanded by attracting international students were left unable to handle the sudden collapse of international travel during COVID-19.

What do we mean by unintended consequences? 

When we take an action and the result is something other than we expected, we call that unintended consequences.

What is second-order thinking?

First-order thinking considers the direct outcomes of an action. Second-order thinking attempts to consider the outcomes of the outcomes. 

Rather than assuming that an action results in a direct response, we should know that responses create their own responses. The common lack of second-order thinking creates many system surprises. 

 

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Paul Orlando

Paul Orlando

Paul's writing on "unintended consequences" comes from his work delving into the systems that he works to impact. He is the founder of Startups Unplugged, a consulting firm devoted to helping large organizations execute with the speed of startups. To do this, Paul often builds startup accelerators and incubators, helping organizations generate more revenue and enabling communities to attract new businesses. He is adjunct professor at the University of Southern California, running the institution's Incubator and in the past built other innovation programmes globally including AcceleratorHK in Hong Kong and the Laudato Si startup incubator in Rome. Paul graduated from Cornell University and Columbia Business School.

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