Biodiversity underpins life on Earth. Healthy ecosystems provide ecosystem services essential to human well-being and economic activities. Scientists estimate that one million of the world’s estimated 8 million species of plants and animals are on the verge of extinction, and this could curtail our ability to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.
Why should financial institutions care? In today's world, financial institutions play a pivotal role in managing financial resources and contributing to the conservation of our planet's invaluable biodiversity. They impact biodiversity through their lending or investment decisions. At the same time, they are exposed to physical, reputational, systemic, and transitional risks due to biodiversity loss. Hence, the disruption of biodiversity poses significant yet often overlooked risks to financial stability. The financial sector is increasingly acknowledging the financial risks associated with biodiversity loss and the integral role it could play in preserving the delicate balance of life on Earth. According to UNEP, if the world is to achieve its climate change, biodiversity, and land degradation objectives, investments in nature must triple by 2030.
Our Biodiversity Finance Course is designed to deepen your understanding of risks associated with biodiversity loss and empower you with the knowledge and tools needed to support the preservation of Earth's diverse ecosystems as financial actors.
What Do We Offer?
Tuition Fees*
Registration Date | Fee |
Before Jan 15, 2024 | EUR 850 |
After Jan 15, 2024 | EUR 1050 |
Final exam fee: An additional final exam fee will be charged for the second and third final exam attempt
Discounts:
Payment in instalments is unfortunately not possible.
*Subject to change
Target Audience
Finance experts and professionals, including retail bankers, financial advisors, asset managers, risk managers etc., and all other financial industry professionals and practitioners in the financial sector interested in the topic of sustainable and biodiversity finance.
Workload
The course takes approx. 6 months assuming 3-4 hours of self-study per week. It consists of five mandatory units, which build upon each other.
You are not sure if you can manage to complete the course within 6 months? No worries! You can apply for a course extension (6 more months) for an administrative fee.
Dates
Course Start | Course End | Registration | Early Bird |
Sept. 1 | Feb. 28 | Jun. 1 - Sept. 1 | by Jul. 15 |
Mar. 1 | Aug. 31 | Dec. 1 - Mar. 1 | by Jan. 15 |
All our courses contribute to the following SDGs
This course will give you a deeper understanding of the following SDGs. The SWA offers professional and executive courses dedicated to advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Registrations for the programme beginning on 1 September 2024 will open on 1 June 2024. Get notified by signing up for our newsletter.
In a world increasingly aware of the urgent need for environmental conservation, this course allows you to align with sustainability and thrive in the evolving financial landscape of environmental conservation. Biodiversity finance is the key to safeguarding our planet's future while ensuring the financial institution’s long-term success.
In the foundational module, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of biodiversity and the vital role it plays in our world. Discover how healthy ecosystems are the backbone of our economy, providing essential services that underpin financial stability. This course explores the intricate link between biodiversity loss and climate change, to identify, assess, and mitigate biodiversity-related risks in the financial sector’s operations and investments. Participants delve into biodiversity finance, demystifying terms like impact dependence and double materiality, and uncovering risk management strategies. Explore tools for assessing risks and evaluating impacts and opportunities.
The course also discusses the public and private sectors' roles and helps navigate the complex legal and regulatory landscape surrounding biodiversity finance.
Lastly, participants gain insights into real-world examples that have already started their journey to integrated biodiversity finance within a financial sector's strategy, processes and products. successfully.
Interested participants can deepen their understanding of closely related topics in the three electives:
Suggestions & Recommendations
While you decide on the timing and pace of your learning experience, we would like to give you some recommendations on how to get the most out of this course:
Your schedule: We will provide you with a course schedule including voluntary and mandatory deadlines. This course schedule is a guideline for planning your learning and ensuring you complete the programme within the given timeframe.
Assignments: By completing the assignment, you will learn how to apply the knowledge learned during the course. It is important that you take time to read the necessary materials and solve the assignment.
Networking Opportunities: Use the forum to introduce yourself to your peers and start interesting discussions.
Unit 1: Setting the scene - Introduction to biodiversity and ecosystem services
In this unit, we introduce the participants to the complex world of biodiversity, providing a comprehensive overview of concepts, the science, and exploring the interplay and interdependence between biodiversity loss and climate change. The unit also provides regional and sectoral case examples of the importance of biodiversity to the overall society and business.
Unit 3: Public and private sector - Initiatives and available frameworks
The module is dedicated to biodiversity initiatives and frameworks. It is specifically designed to help participants develop a good understanding of the role of the public and private sectors in biodiversity finance. It introduces participants to initiatives currently under development at the regulatory level, such as taxonomies. This module also aims to cover platforms and tools available for assessing biodiversity-related risks and opportunities.
Unit 5: Opportunities and innovation
Having grasped the context of biodiversity finance, the risks associated, and current standards, tools, and frameworks, the fifth unit delves into the biodiversity finance landscape, exploring an array of financial opportunities, including projects related to biodiversity as nature-based solutions, climate-smart agriculture, and restoration. Lastly, the module further delves into the financial products, funds and forms of capital suited for investment in this realm.
Unit 2: Biodiversity loss threat to the financial system - Risks, impacts and dependencies
Within this module, we explore how the loss of biodiversity possesses the capacity to disrupt the financial system and the economy as a whole. It explains key terminologies and concepts of biodiversity finance and biodiversity loss as impact dependence and double materiality. This Unit delves into the intricate connections between biodiversity and financial stability, explaining double materiality and risk management strategies.
Unit 4: Measuring, reporting and strategy
In this module, participants will gain insights into the current tools, databases, initiatives, targets, metrics, and approaches that are used to evaluate biodiversity risks, and measure impacts, and interdependencies within a company's overall strategy.
*Subject to change
The flexibility of our courses offers you the opportunity to follow your own schedule and to combine daily work with professional development.
The high quality offered will immediately improve your daily job performance as well as the performance of your institution.
Training Material
Video Lectures
Online Tests
Each unit ends with an online test comprising a set of 10 - 15 multiple choice questions. Only after having successfully completed an online test you will gain access to the next unit.
Reading Material
A PDF script is for most of our courses the main studying material. This reading material provides basic concepts and principles applicable to the subject of each unit.
Assignments
The key to successful learning is the immediate use of newly acquired knowledge and the transfer of theory into practice. Our online courses are therefore supplemented by mandatory assignments.
Discussion Forum
A course discussion forum enables the interaction between participants and trainers and facilitates the exchange of experiences as well as possibilities to ask questions or get clarifications.
Final Exam
Passing a final examination is a requirement for obtaining your certificate.
If you do not wish to take the final exam, you will receive a confirmation of course participation after completing the course.
The content of this course was developed by the Frankfurt School - UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance (http://fs-unep-centre.org/). The Centre is a strategic cooperation between Frankfurt School and the UN Environment programme. Its vision is to advance transformation to resilient low-carbon and resource-efficient economies by attracting new types of investors, in particular catalysing the financing of clean energy by the private sector. The Centre is UNEP’s major knowledge hub for climate & biodiversity finance related aspects.