Sustainable Finance Governance

Introduction:

Green bonds which finance projects with environmental benefits have passed the $1trillion dollar milestone for the amount issued since the first ever green bond in 2007. Fast growth in this market sector is driving unprecedented demand for skilled professionals and for targeted training in the fundamentals of the products and the application of the Green and Social Bond Principles, the foundation for green and social bond issuance.

Through this course we aim to give you a deep understanding of the mechanics of green, social and sustainability bonds, taking you from the big picture policy context to introducing the underlying drivers of market development, main product features and regulation. We will talk about the Green and Social Bond Principles, the Sustainability Bond Guidelines and the new Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles and explain how they work in practice, including evaluation and selection of eligible projects for funding, the role of external reviewers and guidance on reporting. The course is illustrated with examples from the market, getting you ready to apply the knowledge at work and includes quiz questions for each module to ensure you're following the content.

Course Objectives:

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Identify recent trends and potential future developments and opportunities for green, social and sustainability bonds
• Discuss why the market matters and how it works
• Understand foundation skills for taking part in the GSS bond market - how and why to align with and apply the principles
• Identify principles aligned issuance framework: pillars of GSS bonds
• Define green and social: Types of projects eligible for GSS bonds
• Recognize reporting frameworks: Recommendations and practice in reporting, including allocation and impact reports, and templates offered by the GBP SBP
• Understand external reviews and other services: The role and value-added of service providers, notably external reviews foreseen by the GBP SBP and increasingly by regulators
• Identify perspectives and roles of the key players in the GSS bond market including –regulators, investors, underwriters, issuers, external reviewers including rating agencies, stock exchanges, data and index providers.
• Identify opportunities for the public and private sectors to issue green bonds and green loans;
• Apply sustainable finance mechanisms to a real-life investment case study.

Targeted Groups:

• Companies who are looking to issue or invest in green, social and sustainability bonds.
• Market professionals involved in underwriting, research or professional services for sustainable bonds; this includes capital markets lawyers, external reviewers including rating agencies, stock exchanges, data and index providers official sector representatives promoting, supervising or developing policies on sustainable finance.
• Professionals with an interest in sustainable finance and the merits of sustainable bond markets.

Unit 1: Climate science and climate finance

• Basics of finance and investment with a business model perspective on climate-resilient projects
• Climate-Related Risks
• Managing Climate-Related Risks
• Integrating ESG Factors into Investment Strategies
• Generating and Disclosing ESG-Related Data and its Impacts

Unit 2: Barriers to adaptation finance and the role of support frameworks

• Climate resilience, risk metrics and indicators

Unit 3: Financing the business model - financial instruments

• Building a business case for adaptation
• Investment opportunities from the perspective of private financiers

Unit 4: Investing in Infrastructure for a Green, Inclusive and Resilient Recovery

• Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID) and Quality Infrastructure Investments
• Green Infrastructure: Climate and Environmental Considerations
• More resilient and inclusive infrastructure
• Implementing a life-cycle cost approach
• Strengthening Infrastructure Governance

Unit 5: Introduction to Green Bonds

• Fundamentals of Green Bond Analysis: Credit Rating Analysis
• Green Bonds: Legal and Regulatory framework: Standards and Principles

Unit 6: Green Bond Principles

• GBP Pillar I
• GBP Pillar II & III
• GBP Pillar IV

Unit 7: Green bonds: market development

• Green Bonds: when the principles meet the Market
• Framework and Independent External reviews of Green Bonds

Unit 8: Green, Social, Thematic and Sustainability-linked Bonds

• Fintech and Sustainability: Blockchain technology opportunities for the Green Bond Market
• Green Securitization