Course description
Sustainable Finance
Earn an official certificate of professional achievement from University of Cambridge
In today’s business landscape, it’s no longer sufficient for organisations to simply acknowledge global sustainability challenges like climate change, resource depletion, and inequality – they’re expected to lead the way through them.
The Sustainable Finance online short course from the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) offers the tools and insights needed to develop financial strategies that create value for society and invest in a sustainable future.
Over eight weeks, you’ll learn about the pressures, trends, and opportunities in the current financial system. You’ll also investigate the strategic business implications of social and environmental challenges, and discover how best to plan for the future through sustainable initiatives like impact investing, the integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing, and positive screening.
With expert guidance from CISL faculty, you’ll gain the skills to implement sustainable finance solutions in your own context, and better understand how these strategies can positively impact your organisation’s long-term value gain. This course will also give you new perspectives on how businesses, banks, and insurers are shifting to more sustainable business models that offer positive returns for both their clients and society.
Suitability - Who should attend?
Is this course for you?
This course will be relevant to anyone interested in harnessing sustainable finance initiatives to bring about positive change – both professionals currently working in the finance sector, such as financial service providers, financial advisors, sustainability consultants, and fund managers, as well as those outside the industry seeking a more practical understanding of how sustainable finance can strategically drive long-term business returns (including managers, marketing specialists, investors, and those who work with NGOs). Policymakers in the public sector will also benefit from this finance course, as will anyone with an interest in integrating environmental considerations into development planning and finance. Similarly, this course is ideal for those looking to understand how both mindsets and the broader financial system are evolving in response to social and environmental pressures and, ultimately, how this can be financially and environmentally beneficial.
Outcome / Qualification etc.
- Explore financial strategies that promote a sustainable future and earn a certificate of completion from the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
- Assessment is continuous and based on a series of practical assignments completed online. In order to be issued with a certificate, you’ll need to meet the requirements outlined in the course handbook. The handbook will be made available to you as soon as you begin the course.
What will set you apart
On completion of this course, you’ll walk away with:
- Insight into the sustainability challenges facing business and financial systems.
- An understanding of how sustainability is rewiring financial systems to benefit society and business.
- Tools and frameworks to respond to financial risks posed by sustainability issues, and the insights needed to create long-term value.
- The ability to develop sustainable finance strategies and lead integration into traditional financial management practices.
- A personal action plan to implement sustainable finance in your sphere of influence.
Training Course Content
Learn how to promote green finance and respond to financial risks posed by social and sustainability issues as you work through the weekly modules of this online short course.
Module 1
Introduction to sustainable finance
Module 2
Steering capital for a sustainable future
Module 3
Strategies that work for sustainable finance
Module 4
Rewiring risk and return
Module 5
Sustainable finance solutions
Module 6
The role of the public sector in sustainable finance
Module 7
Trends, disruption, innovation, and sustainable finance
Module 8
Creating impact
Course delivery details
Duration:
- 8 weeks (excluding orientation)
- 6–8 hours per week,Self-paced learning online