INTRODUCTION TO

SUSTAINABLE FINANCE COURSE

By the Public and Third Sector Academy for Sustainable Finance
(P3S Academy) at the University of Oxford

Delivered using the Apolitical platform

Introduction to
Sustainable Finance Course

Course by the University of Oxford’s Public and

Third Sector Academy for Sustainable Finance (P3S Academy)
Delivered using the Apolitical platform
UPCOMING COURSE DATES
Next Course Dates: 8 May 2023 - 25 August 2023
Application Deadline: 28 April 2023
COURSE DIRECTOR
FUTURE COURSE DATES:
Dr Ben Caldecott Director,
• 11 September 2023 - 26 January 2024 Oxford Sustainable Finance
Group & Lombard Odier Associate
Professor of Sustainable Finance,
University of Oxford.

ELIGIBILITY
Only open to public servants and
COURSE STRUCTURE third sector representatives.

• 20 hours learning time over 10 weeks

• Seven written modules, delivered via participants’
FEES
inboxes and Apolitical’s interactive platform 150 free places per cohort for
• Learners connected via an online forum eligible public servants and third
• Includes three live professor led sessions sector representatives.
• University of Oxford completion certificate £500 for others.

95%
available upon completion

APPLY HERE OF PARTICIPANTS FROM

THE UK’S FOREIGN
COMMONWEALTH AND
DEVELOPMENT OFFICE SAID
THEY WOULD RECOMMEND
THIS COURSE TO A COLLEAGUE

MORE INFORMATION CONTACT US

ABOUT THE COURSE
The course will provide public servants and third sector representatives with a
foundational understanding of sustainable finance. It will arm them with knowledge of
key concepts, theories, and topics to successfully navigate developments across this
emerging field, and identify and mobilise levers of change.

COURSE OBJECTIVES TEACHING

By the end of the course, participants will be able to: PEDAGOGY
This course has been
• Understand the purpose of finance and the structure of the
developed especially for public
financial system. They will examine the investment chain,
servants and third sector
asset classes, and finance professions, putting finance into a
representatives. It is:
broader framework that can help them navigate sustainable
finance. • A
 flipped classroom.
• A nalyse the role of public policy in motivating investment Learners read content at their
into sustainability and how sustainable finance is shaped own pace, using scheduled
by public policy. They will also compare the motivations of time to engage with others.
policymakers internationally and investigate what has or has • Bite-sized. Individual lessons
not worked. can be completed in 20 - 30
• A ssess how and why policies, regulations, and supervisory minutes.
expectations related to sustainable finance are evolving • Informed by behavioural
in different jurisdictions and their direction of travel, and science. Uses email nudges as
examine the opportunities this creates. an extension of the platform
• Evaluate what it means to have impact through sustainable content, so learners can
finance and what kind of impacts are likely or possible. always stay on track.
They will analyse what the challenges and opportunities are • Social and peer-led. Learners
associated with seeking positive environmental and social interact with classmates via
impacts through finance. online forums, ‘live’ events,
and groupwork.
• Practical. Learning includes
functional activities that can
be done alone and with team
members. Designed to help
policymakers apply their
learning at work.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS, FEES,
AND APPLICATION
Places on this course are strictly limited to those who have primary employment in:
central or local government, regulatory agencies, supervisory authorities, central
banks, multilateral institutions, non-profit civil society organisations, registered
charities, and philanthropic organisations. Evidence of this will be requested
and required.

FREE PLACES
While we have a large number of
free places per cohort, these will
be allocated based on suitability
and need. We will prioritise
current and future leaders from
APPLY HERE developing countries.

STANDARD PLACES
The course costs £500 per head.

BOOKING FORM
For individuals, or organisations
looking to book multiple seats for
their staff, please fill out this
form as soon as possible to
secure places on upcoming or
future cohorts.
This course is in English. Translation may be
available and considered for large groups.
COURSE SYLLABUS OUTLINE
I. P
 urpose and structure A. The financial system
of finance B. Asset classes
C. Finance professions
D. Fiduciary duty
E. Case study: CalPERS

II. W
 hat is sustainable A. Making sense of the alphabet soup (RI, SRI, ESG, etc)
Finance? B. Sustainable finance products
C. Drivers of sustainable finance opportunity
D. Risk, materiality and associated changes in supervision
E. Impact and making a difference
F. The state of sustainable finance
G. Case study: BNP Paribas Asset Management

II. F
 inancing A. Cash flows and balance sheets
sustainability B. Policy frameworks and mobilising investment into solutions to
environmental challenges
C. Public financial institutions (e.g. MDBs, DFIs, NDBs, ECAs, etc)
D. Case study: Climate Investment Funds

IV. ESG integration A. Materiality and stranded assets

B. Measurement: current approaches and their limitations
C. Corporate governance and reporting
D. Active ownership, engagement, and stewardship
E. Case study: Legal and General Investment
Management - ESG Integration

V. C
 entral banking A. Microprudential regulation
and financial B. Monetary policy
C. Financial conduct
supervision
D. Macroprudential regulation
E. Case study: Bank of England - climate risk integration in
central banking

VI. W
 hat does it mean A. Defining sustainability
to have an impact B. Alignment vs risk management
C. Impact investing
through finance?
D. Case study: Bridges Fund Management

VII. F
 uture directions A. The power of the law
and trends B. Civil society and divestment vs engagement
C. Data and metrics
ABOUT THE PUBLIC AND THIRD SECTOR
ACADEMY FOR SUSTAINABLE FINANCE
(P3S ACADEMY)
There is significant and growing interest from policymakers, the wider public
sector, and civil society in aligning finance with sustainability and mobilising
capital efficiently for the net zero carbon transition and other sustainable
development outcomes.
Achieving this rapidly is a necessary condition for tackling climate change and the
other sustainability challenges facing humanity. It is also necessary for financial
institutions and the financial system to manage both discrete and systematic
risks, particularly those related to climate change.

New opportunities for public policymakers and civil society are arising
simultaneously in multiple areas related to finance and investment,
for example on active ownership, the carbon bubble, climate finance,
conservation finance, disclosure, divestment, engagement, energy
efficiency, ESG, export credit, green banks, green bonds, green
benchmarks and indices, impact investing, payments for ecosystem
services, public finance, public private partnerships, renewable
energy, reporting, responsible investment, stranded assets, and green
taxonomies. In order to maximise impact in these and related areas the
public and third sectors urgently need to develop broader and more
in-depth capabilities in finance generally and sustainable finance in
particular.
The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking
world and has been ranked first in the world by the Times Higher
Education World University Rankings for six years in a row1.
Across our departments, schools, centres, and research groups the
University of Oxford has world leading researchers and research
capabilities relevant to understanding these challenges and
opportunities.
The Oxford Sustainable Finance Group (OxSFG) is the focal point
for these activities and is situated in the University’s Smith School of
Enterprise and the Environment (SSEE). OxSFG is a multidisciplinary
research centre and is arguably the world’s best place for research and
teaching on sustainable finance. We were established in 2012 to align
the theory and practice of finance and investment with sustainability.
Since our foundation we have made significant and In April 2021 we launched a new Public and
sustained contributions to the field, including in Third Sector Academy for Sustainable Finance
some of the following areas: (The “P3S Academy”). The P3S Academy at the
University of Oxford is a new global centre of
• Developing the concept of “stranded assets”,
learning and capacity building focused on how
now a core element of the theory and practice of
the public and third sectors, whether central
sustainable finance.
or local government, regulators, supervisory
• Contributions to the theory and practice of authorities, multilateral institutions, campaigning
measuring environmental risks and impacts NGOs, charities, and philanthropy, can grasp the
via new forms of geospatial data and analysis, opportunities associated with sustainable finance.
including introducing the idea and importance of It will arm these groups with the knowledge,
“spatial finance” and “asset-level data”. networks, and skills required to shift the direction
of tens of trillions of dollars of capital away from
• Shaping the theory and practice of supervision
unsustainable activities to those aligned with
as it relates to sustainability by working directly
the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable
with the Bank of England from 2014-19 (including
Development Goals.
co-authoring their seminal 2015 report on climate
change and insurance supervision), the central The Academy will target, among others, civil
banks’ and supervisors’ Network for Greening servants, regulators, and central bankers working
the Financial System (NGFS), Banque de France, to develop policies that can foster the development
and US Commodity Futures Trading Commission of sustainable finance; staff at NGOs who would
(CFTC), as well as supporting other supervisory like to help the global financial system create
agencies, ranging from the Monetary Authority of better sustainability outcomes; and philanthropic
Singapore to the European Banking Authority. funders looking to navigate sustainable finance
topics so as to support the most impactful
• Supporting policymakers design and implement
activities. The Academy will work internationally,
policies to support sustainable finance, including
with a particular focus on supporting public and
through the UK Green Finance Taskforce, UK
third sector organisations in developing and
Green Finance Strategy, the UK's Presidency of
emerging economies.
COP26, and the high-level Transition
Plan Taskforce. The Academy will become a significant, agile
resource for building capacity on sustainable
• Nurturing the expansion of a rigorous academic
finance among the public and third sectors.
community internationally by conceiving,
We are focused on the mass delivery of this high-
founding, and co-chairing the Global Research
quality introductory course in our first year. We
Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investment
will develop more bespoke courses and training on
(GRASFI), an alliance of 30 global research
more specific topics based on demand and need.
universities promoting rigorous and impactful
academic research on sustainable finance.

1. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/university-oxford
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