Achieving a net-zero carbon footprint is an enormous task for every firm. Understanding the challenges of sustainability,  ESG and risk management is key to any expert or manager!

15 reasons why gaining this know-how is crucial.

• Everybody is talking about Sustainable Finance. Can you too?
• Investors and other stakeholders inquire about the sustainability of your business. What do you answer?
• Learn how the physical and transitional risks of climate change are transmitted into your organization.
• Hazards, exposures, and vulnerabilities – experience what these terms mean for your firm!
• Understand how your enterprise risk management (ERM) may incorporate climate change and other ESG-related risks.
• Implement climate scenario analysis in your organization efficiently and effectively, and benefit from your findings.
• Discover how green financial markets and sustainability-linked instruments work in practice.
• Hear about the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, and how they affect your business strategy, business model, and governance.
• Be aware of current regulatory initiatives such as the EU taxonomy and the Corporate Sustainable Reporting Directive, and how these regulations impact your organization.
• Improve your knowledge of ESG (environment, social, governance) matters, and understand how ESG should be implemented in your organization.
• Study the scientific basis of climate change to use it in your arguments on implementation matters.
• Identify the crucial key performance indicators (KPI) that explain the sustainability of your organization to internal and external stakeholders.
• Know how to disclose comprehensive and comparable information on your sustainability.
• Stay in front of the herd while learning about the upcoming regulatory initiatives on sustainability not only on climate risk but also on social and governance risk.
• Develop stress tests to better assess and manage exposures to ESG risks in your organization.

The course and the learning outcome

This 2-day course is designed to provide a starting point to sustainability and ESG risks, always paired with practical case studies on the concepts. You will get hands-on experience on ESG risk management which will benefit you in your day-to-day business, as the role of sustainability managers becomes more and more prominent in corporate life.

The political goals are set, namely the UN Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate. Now it is up to regulators and market participants to define concrete strategies and policies for implementation at the firm level

The practical challenges lie in the complexity of sustainable development. Environmental (E), Social (S), and Governance (G) matters impact firms not only in a single area but often on a global basis. Special managerial skills are required for the overall understanding of ESG risks, and for their measurement and management to the benefit of the firm but also the wider society

Key Learnings:

• The course starts with an introduction to ESG and in particular climate change from a scientific perspective.
• It then moves on to the key features of sustainability, explains the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and shows how they are incorporated into investment guidelines and corporate risk frameworks.
• The third part analyses in detail how ESG risks are translated into financial risks and discusses examples of how hazards/drivers, exposures, and vulnerability interact to manifest transition and physical risks.
• Next, the course takes a holistic perspective on ESG risks in the context of public policy, corporate culture, and governance for promoting green finance.
• Markets and financial instruments for green finance are the core of part five. The Green Bond Principles for investment decision-making are explained as well as the EU taxonomy.
• Measurement and management of ESG risks are among the most urgent challenges for sustainable development.
• Approaches to measuring climate-related risks are identified and available metrics and tools are presented. The masterpiece of the course is reached when, finally, climate models, scenario analysis, and stress tests are explained.

• ESG managers and sustainability professionals leading environmental and governance initiatives.
• Risk managers integrating climate, ESG, and enterprise risk management frameworks.
• CFOs, finance managers, and controllers evaluating sustainability impact and green finance options.
• Compliance and governance professionals responding to ESG regulations and reporting demands.
• Strategy leaders embedding sustainability into business models and long-term planning.
• Treasury and banking professionals working with green bonds, sustainable lending, or ESG financing.
• Investors and analysts assessing ESG risks, opportunities, and responsible investment criteria.
• Operations and supply chain managers managing transition risks and sustainability performance.
• Consultants advising clients on ESG strategy, disclosure, and regulatory readiness.
• Managers who need practical ESG knowledge to support resilient, future-ready decisions.

The Scientific Foundation of ESG and Sustainability. The Case of Climate Change.

• Introduction to general trends of modern climate change
• The earth’s energy balance and the greenhouse effect
• The economic and ecological impacts of climate changes

Goals and Objectives of Sustainability

• The UN Sustainable Development Goals
• Incorporation of SDG’s into investment guidelines and corporate risk frameworks  
• Corporate case study

Climate Change Risk

• Introduction to climate change risk
• Translation pathways into financial risks
• Acute/chronic hazards/drivers, exposures, and vulnerability for physical and transition risks with case studies
• First-mover opportunities for firms and sectors

ESG Public Policies, Corporate Culture, and Governance

• Introduction to the Paris Agreement and other climate initiatives
• Carbon-pricing policies, carbon taxes, and emission-Trading Schemes
• Integration of climate goals in corporate cultures and governance with case studies

Green Finance: Markets, EU Taxonomy and ESG (linked) Financial Instruments

• Market trends in ESG and Sustainable Finance
• Introduction to the Green Bond Principles 
• Introduction to green credit markets
• Introduction to EU Taxonomy & current status
• Investment and lending decision-making under ESG-Criteria with case studies

The Measurement and Management of Climate Risk

• Overview of measurement approaches for climate risk including metrics and tools
• Risk inventory, impact on earnings & costs, quantification of overall climate risk
• Incorporation of climate risk into corporate strategy, governance, and disclosure

ESG Risk Models and Scenario Analysis including Stress Testing

• The benefits of scenario analysis for ESG risks
• The IPCC scenarios and associated Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) and Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs)
• The case of scenario analysis for transition risks
• The case of scenario analysis for physical risks
• The use of scenario analysis for defining corporate strategies and communication
• Case study: ECB Climate Stress Tests

Feedback and Farewell

• This course brought me the insights needed on global developments, the impacts on finance, management thinking, investments and managing our risks.
• Dr. Hofinger and Dr. Buchmueller have a lot of experience in these matters. They brought the course in a structured way. Now I can revert to my organisation, evaluate and steer our ESG requirements
• This was an excellent course. ESG Should be on our radar within the firm. The course was structured in a very logical way, and I liked the teaching style, very clear in communication and used real-world examples to bring the ideas to life. Thank you very much.