Sustainable Finance:Risk & Reporting ACCFIN5258

  • Academic Session: 2023-24
  • School: Adam Smith Business School
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
  • Typically Offered: Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: No

Short Description

Sustainable investing now represents a significant fraction of professionally managed investments across the world, for instance in Europe. The growing demand for sustainable investment is probably a long-lasting phenomenon, as the younger generations tend to exhibit higher levels of sustainable investment.

 

This increased interest of investors in sustainability is both a risk and an opportunity for companies. This course will introduce the recent developments pertaining to the risk management and reporting of sustainability.

Timetable

10 lectures of 2 hours, for 10 consecutive weeks

3 tutorials of 1 hour

Requirements of Entry

Please refer to the current postgraduate prospectus at : https://www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate/.

Excluded Courses

None

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

Assessment

ILO

Weighting

Duration/
Word Count

Group project

1, 2 & 4

25%

3000 words

Main Assessment In: April/May

Course Aims

The course aims to:

1. Detail the multi-faceted nature of sustainability and explain why this entails both new risks and new opportunities,

2. Present the main qualitative and quantitative risk management approaches available to face these risks, with a focus on emerging practices,

3. Explain the recent developments of sustainability reporting across the world (e.g., Non-Financial Reporting Directive and Corporate Social Responsibility Directive in the European Union, International Sustainability Standards Board).

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Describe the various dimensions of sustainability and discuss the reasons why they became increasingly important over the recent years for investors and corporations,

2. Evaluate the quantitative and qualitative tools (e.g., extra-financial ratings, catastrophe bonds, internal carbon pricing) available to corporations and investors to integrate sustainability in their financial decisions,

3. Critically appraise how sustainability reporting practices have evolved over the recent years, in a context of increased interest in sustainability, 

4. Work collaboratively in a group to produce a combined output, by liaising with other class members, allocating tasks and coordinating group meetings. 

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.