BE374-7-SP-CO:
Sustainable and Green Finance
2024/25
Essex Business School
Colchester Campus
Spring
Postgraduate: Level 7
Current
Monday 13 January 2025
Friday 21 March 2025
20
31 January 2024
Requisites for this module
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This module aims to provide students with the knowledge and understanding of the role of sustainability and climate change in business and finance. More specifically, it will deal with the impact of sustainability and climate change on financial markets and institutions. Furthermore, the module will explore the risks and challenges of climate transition for the companies, investors, and regulators.
Particular focus will be placed on types of green investments, environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment principles, transition to carbon-neutral portfolios, climate change policies and regulation, and climate risks. The module will draw heavily on real-world practice and cutting-edge research in the field. It is also well-aligned with the syllabus of professional qualifications in green and sustainable finance.
The aims of this module are:
- To provide students with a good knowledge of the nexus of finance and sustainability. To do so, the topics covered include climate change and climate transition, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and sustainable investing, green investment products, and the approach of stakeholders such as regulators, firms, and banks to sustainability.
- To provide an overview of the types of climate risks and their implications for companies and investors.
- To help students attain knowledge on important concepts, such as the transition to a low carbon economy, greening of investment portfolios, ESG rating/data, and sustainability in banking and finance.
- To give students a solid understanding of the practical issues related to the adaptation of sustainability and green investment principles.
- To enable students to become familiar with important regulations related to climate change.
By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:
- Evaluate critically the role of sustainability and climate change in financial markets and institutions.
- Explain how investors may fully exploit the benefits of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and climate data.
- Analyse green investment instruments, such as green bonds.
- Assess different types of climate risks such as physical and regulatory risks, biodiversity risks, and the role of stranded assets.
- Explain the main climate change regulation such as the Paris Agreement, and carbon taxation.
- Describe how financial technology (FinTech) can support green/sustainable finance.
- Demonstrate in-depth knowledge as to how stakeholders such as pension funds can employ green investments.
Skills for your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
By the end of this module, students will be expected to have developed and improved the following employability-related skills:
- Improve your commercial awareness by investigating the current trends in sustainable finance and investing, especially (but not limited to) recent trends in the use of ESG and climate data and green investments.
- Develop your research skills through the use of ESG data.
- Develop quantitative skills across different asset classes such as equites and bonds.
- Enhance written communication skills through essay work.
- Improve knowledge about climate change and critically evaluate the employment of sustainable investing.
Syllabus information
- Introduction to Green and Sustainable Finance: Climate Emergency, Climate Regulation & Transition.
- ESG data and sustainability reporting.
- Carbon markets and carbon taxes.
- Green Investments I: Green equity investing.
- Green Investments II: Green and sustainable bonds.
- Climate risks and financial markets.
- Impact Investing - Greening investment portfolios.
- PE, Pension funds, and Sovereign Wealth.
- Green Banking.
- Sustainable FinTech and Innovation and the way forward.
This module will be delivered via:
- One 2-hour lecture per week.
- One 1-hour class per fortnight.
- One review session in the summer term.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Exam |
Main exam: In-Person, Open Book, 120 minutes during Summer (Main Period)
|
| Exam |
Reassessment Main exam: In-Person, Open Book, 120 minutes during September (Reassessment Period)
|
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
No
No
Yes
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.
* Please note: due to differing publication schedules, items marked with an asterisk (*) base their information upon the previous academic year.
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