Syllabus

• Week 1

  What we mean by finance and why it isn’t sustainable

  • Money, money, money

    Leaners are asked to engage in a topic they may feel is a long way from their everyday experience. They begin to explore the financial system and challenge their preconceptions

  • Finance: The Basics

    An introduction to the various players operating in financial markets and the financial products they are trading in

  • The Carbon Bubble

    Nothing creates greater risks to our financial system - and indeed to humanity - than the climate crisis. The idea of 'carbon bubble' links climate risks with financial risks.

  • What have we learned, where are we going?

    Reflecting on learning so far and looking ahead to the rest of the course

• Week 2

  Taming the Beast: How to make money work for good

  • Focus on fossil fuels

    Burning fossil fuels is causing climate breakdown. Why are we still doing it? And why are governments still providing subsidies to fossil fuels?

  • Putting a price on carbon

    Fossil fuel burning is causing damage to our climate. How can we make sure this price is included in the market price? And how can this pricing make sure that fossil fuels are rapidly eliminated global economy?

  • Pricing nature

    Those who proposed market solutions to environmental problems argue that if we valued nature rightly we would find ways to protect it. This debate is introduced, together with discussion about 'natural capital'

  • Pricing the priceless and compromising with the market

    Learners discuss the limits of prices in influencing their behaviour and making change in the world

• Week 3

  Why accountants are the unlikely heroes of sustainable finance

  • Measuring progress

    What tools do we need to ensure that we have a true sense of whether progress is being made? We start to think about definitions and measurements of sustainable investments and sustainable finance

  • Greenwashing

    With public attention focused on the environmental crisis, everybody wants to burnish their green credentials. How can we tell genuine claims to sustainable activity by financial companies and they invest in from the frauds?

  • Sustainability reporting in the EU

    The EU is developing a framework to first design and then monitor whether investment are actually and verifiably sustainable.

  • Spotting the fraud

    This week we've learned about the importance of honest reporting by the companies that are seeking investment and how this can be ensured in law. For this final step, we'll find out how good you are at spotting fraudulent claims.

• Week 4

  Banks: Heroes or Villains?

  • What is the role of banks in a climate emergency?

    In a capitalist economy, banks not only create money but also direct it into the economy. So their lending decisions decide which activities are funded and which aren't. The record of banks so far is not good.

  • Can central banks make money for good

    First, we have to answer the question whether central banks can make money. And the answer is broadly yes. If so, why do they not make sure that the money they create achieves social and environmental benefit?

  • Public banking in the public interest

    Private banks lend to businesses and individuals. When the money is repaid it belongs to them. But what about if we owned banks? Then the money created would belong to us and could be invested for the public good.

  • Making Banks Work for Good

    Learners are asked to consider what changes can be made to make banks work for good and how they can use their own money more positively

• Week 5

  Measuring Success – and Failure

  • Reporting sustainability progress

    Where did the idea of reporting about sustainability come from and how much progress has it made?

  • A Brief History of Reporting

    This week you will have a chance to investigate the development of different reporting standards on climate and environment and their relative merits.

  • The EU Taxonomy

    The EU Taxonomy is a noble ambitious project to define which activities are sustainable and which are not. It was going really well - until politics got in the way.

  • The Limits of Reporting

    In this last activity we are going to reflect on whether reporting is enough. What are its limits and what other powers do politicians have to shift the economy in the direction of sustainability.

• Week 6

  Climate Finance

  • The UN COP process for negotiating climate agreements

    UN Framework Convention on Climate Change has a series of negotiations including all the countries of the world and attempting to find agreements on CO2 reductions. We will look in detail at the one in Glasgow, in November 2021

  • Addressing climate debts

    The countries that industrialised first have produced the most climate-damaging CO2. How can they repay this debt to the countries that are suffering the worst effects of the climate crisis?

  • Climate Justice

    What can the countries that have been mostly responsible for the climate crisis do to compensate the countries that are suffering most from it

  • Over to You . . .

    Summarising what we have learnt and thinking about how you can contribute to building a global economy and financial system that is on the path to sustainability

Who will you learn with?