The Introduction to Sustainable Finance Taxonomies affiliated e-course is now available in French and Spanish.

31 August 2023

News
Sustainable Finance Taxonoimies Course Image - Illustration with lines

Our latest affiliated e-course has been translated into French and Spanish.

 

Over four modules, you will learn about the role of sustainable finance taxonomies in ramping up climate finance globally and how countries benefit from them.

 

Read on to find out more.

The “Introduction to Sustainable Finance Taxonomies” affiliated e-course, launched in June 2023, is now available in French and Spanish.

The course has been developed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and in cooperation with the Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN), and it helps policymakers set up and develop sustainable finance taxonomies

By answering important questions, such as “what qualifies as sustainable?” and “what is a sustainable investment?”, this 4-module learning experience sheds light on why sustainable finance taxonomies provide a clear definition and classification of sustainable economic activities, fostering market transparency and scaling up sustainable finance while building trust and preventing problems like greenwashing

The course has been affiliated on UN CC:e-Learn in English, Spanish and French and takes and average of 4 hours to be completed. During this learning journey learners will get an overview of sustainable finance taxonomies, their relevance, purpose, and different use cases, while learning what the core elements of taxonomies are and discovering the principles and good practices for their development. The course also shows how theory is applied in practice through in-depth case studies and real-world examples from China, Colombia, the EU, and South Africa.

Who should take this course?

This course is aimed primarily at policymakers, including key ministerial staff, regulators, central bankers, capital market authorities and their advisors, as well as anyone who is interested in learning how to set up and develop sustainable finance taxonomies.

What will you learn?

This e-learning course provides technical knowledge that will help you understand what sustainable finance taxonomies are, how they can mobilize capital for sustainability-aligned economic activities, and good development practices that can help ensure they are locally applicable and globally interoperable.

After completing the course, you will be able to:

  • Explain sustainable finance taxonomies and their purpose.
  • Detail the real-life application of taxonomies in the EU and China.
  • Illustrate the key principles of taxonomy development and good practices.
  • Demonstrate how international good practices, combined with national priorities, have been used in the development of taxonomies in South Africa and Colombia.

Will you get a certificate?

The successful completion of the course rewards the learner with a certificate. To complete the course, the learner must complete all four modules, pass each associated quiz with a minimum grade of 70% from no more than three attempts, and fill in the evaluation questionnaire.

Take the course in English, French or Spanish.

Affiliation Programme

The course is made available on UN CC:e-Learn through the new UN CC:Learn affiliation programme, which highlights high-quality e-learning products on climate change developed by recognised institutions outside the framework of the UN CC:Learn programme / without support from the UN CC:Learn Secretariat, in accordance with specific affiliation criteria. The objective of the UN CC:Learn affiliation programme is to enhance global climate literacy through dissemination of high-level learning products that complement UN CC:Learn resources.

New affiliated e-course on sustainable finance taxonomies available on UN CC:e-Learn.

13 June 2023

News
Sustainable Finance Taxonoimies Course Image - Illustration with lines

What is the role of sustainable finance taxonomies in ramping up climate finance globally? And how can countries benefit from them?

 

Our latest affiliated e-course will answer these and many more questions.

 

Read on to find out more.

Companies and financial institutions are increasing their focus on sustainability, and this has led to a series of questions, such as “what qualifies as sustainable?” and “what is a sustainable investment?”. In this context, having clear sustainable finance taxonomies provide a clear definition and classification of sustainable economic activities, fostering market transparency and scaling up sustainable finance while building trust and preventing problems like greenwashing.

To help policymakers set up and develop sustainable finance taxonomies, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH developed the “Introduction to Sustainable Finance Taxonomies” e-course on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and in cooperation with the Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN).

This 4-module learning experience has been affiliated on UN CC:e-Learn and takes and average of 4 hours to be completed. The e-course provides learners with an overview of sustainable finance taxonomies, their relevance, purpose, and different use cases, and explains the core elements of taxonomies while introducing principles and good practices for their development. It also shows how theory is applied in practice through in-depth case studies and real-world examples from China, Colombia, the EU, and South Africa.

Who should take this course?

This course is aimed primarily at policymakers, including key ministerial staff, regulators, central bankers, capital market authorities and their advisors, as well as anyone who is interested in learning how to set up and develop sustainable finance taxonomies.

What will you learn?

This e-learning course provides technical knowledge that will help you understand what sustainable finance taxonomies are, how they can mobilize capital for sustainability-aligned economic activities, and good development practices that can help ensure they are locally applicable and globally interoperable.

After completing the course, you will be able to:

  • Explain sustainable finance taxonomies and their purpose.
  • Detail the real-life application of taxonomies in the EU and China.
  • Illustrate the key principles of taxonomy development and good practices.
  • Demonstrate how international good practices, combined with national priorities, have been used in the development of taxonomies in South Africa and Colombia.

Will you get a certificate?

The successful completion of the course rewards the learner with a certificate. To complete the course, the learner must complete all four modules, pass each associated quiz with a minimum grade of 70% from no more than three attempts, and fill in the evaluation questionnaire.

Take the course today!

Affiliation Programme

The course is made available on UN CC:e-Learn through the new UN CC:Learn affiliation programme, which highlights high-quality e-learning products on climate change developed by recognised institutions outside the framework of the UN CC:Learn programme / without support from the UN CC:Learn Secretariat, in accordance with specific affiliation criteria. The objective of the UN CC:Learn affiliation programme is to enhance global climate literacy through dissemination of high-level learning products that complement UN CC:Learn resources.

Introduction to Sustainable Finance Taxonomies

Courses

This interactive and practical course, “Introduction to Sustainable Finance Taxonomies”, provides you with an overview of sustainable finance taxonomies, their relevance, purpose and different use cases. It explains the core elements of taxonomies and introduces principles and good practices for their development. You will learn how theory is applied in practice through in-depth case studies and real-world examples from China, Colombia, the EU, and South Africa.

 

Enroll
  • Finance

Self-paced course

3.5 hours

Welcome!

This course is aimed primarily at policymakers, including key ministerial staff, regulators, central bankers, capital market authorities and their advisors, who are interested in learning how to set up and develop sustainable finance taxonomies. By outlining the core elements and use cases of taxonomies, the course also provides important information for the real economy, including financial and non-financial companies that may need to report on the taxonomy alignment of their business activities in the future.

We hope that this course creates a clear understanding of sustainable finance taxonomies and aids in their development worldwide. Please note that this area is dynamic and continuously evolving, and this content is current as of December 2022. We recommend users to access this e-learning with a stable internet connection.

What you will learn

This e-learning course provides technical knowledge that will help you understand what sustainable finance taxonomies are, how they can mobilise capital for sustainability-aligned economic activities, and good development practices that can help ensure they are locally applicable and globally interoperable.

This course achieves the following objectives:

  • Explains sustainable finance taxonomies and their purpose,
  • Shows the real-life application of taxonomies in the EU and China,
  • Illustrates the key principles of taxonomy development and good practices, and
  • Demonstrates how international good practices, combined with national priorities, have been used in the development of taxonomies in South Africa and Colombia.

The course is divided into four modules:

  • Module 1: An overview of sustainable finance taxonomies
  • Module 2: Taxonomies in practice: the EU and China
  • Module 3: Principles of taxonomy development
  • Module 4: Taxonomy development principles in practice: South Africa and Colombia

 Each module contains several lessons and concludes with a quiz.

Completion requirements

In order to successfully complete this course, learners must:

  • Complete all four web-based training modules,
  • Pass the quiz at the end of every module with a minimum of 70%, and
  • Fill in the evaluation questionnaire.

International Climate Change Negotiations: Leveraging LoCAL Experience in Support of Climate Change Negotiations

Courses

This course aims to inscrease knowledge on negotiations to expand implementation of climate change adaptation plannning at local level under LoCAL mechanism.

Enroll
  • Finance

Self-paced course

3.5 hours

Why take this course?

The LoCAL Mechanism increases local level climate change awareness and capacities, including by integrating climate change adaptation into local government planning and budgeting in a participatory and gender-sensitive manner, and increases the financing available to local governments for climate change adaptation. LoCAL combines performance-based climate resilience grants (PBCRGs) – which ensure programming and verification of climate change expenditures at the local level while offering strong incentives for performance improvements in enhanced resilience – with technical and capacity-building support.

In this regard, this course has been designed to build a solid understanding of the negotiating environment under adaptation for LoCAL Member Countries.  It does so by first looking at the negotiation environment provided by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), including its governing bodies, subsidiary bodies, negotiating groups and the financial mechanisms available, while identifying LoCAL’s coordinates within this environment. It continues by zooming into the climate change adaptation pillar, while discussing the most prominent adaptation milestones under the UNFCCC. Here, the course returns to LoCAL identifying its contribution under various articles of the convention itself, but also under the Paris Agreement, especially Article 6.8 which refers to the non-market adaptation mechanisms. Finally, the course offers an entire module on fundamentals of negotiation, strategies and tactics applied in international conferences.

The course at a glance

The course is self-paced and adapted to the schedule of full-time working professionals. The course is presented in three modules and we highly recommend to be taken in the order in which they are presented:

  1. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): Five interactive lessons discussing the UNFCC framework for international cooperation to address climate change, covering governing and subsidiary bodies, negotiating groups and financial mechanisms and a case study (Financing Local Climate Adaptation in LDCs).
  2. Adaptation under the UNFCCC: Three interactive lessons describing adaptation milestones and highlights under the UNFCCC and the LoCAL mechanism
  3. International Conferences: fundamentals of negotiation, strategies and tactics: Two interactive lessons investigating the fundamentals of negotiation, strategies and tactics at international climate conferences.

Get your Certificate

The successful completion of the course rewards the learner with a certificate. To complete the course, the learner must complete all three modules and pass each associated quiz with a minimum grade of 70% from no more than three attempts.

New e-Course Unpacks the Importance of Finance in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

26 January 2022

News

How can we accelerate the achievement of climate and development targets by leveraging the financial sector?

 

The Introduction to Sustainable Finance e-course has been completely revamped and will answer this and many more questions in 4 different modules that cater to several audiences, from the financial sector to civil society.

 

Read on to find out more about the course.

Sustainable finance is key to achieving the much-needed climate and development goals. In this context, the new Introduction to Sustainable Finance e-course has been developed to help users working in finance better understand the ins and outs of sustainable finance.

This interactive and practical e-course provides you with the basic knowledge you need to understand sustainable finance – its scope, its contribution to supporting action on climate change and sustainable development, the main actors and how financial institutions make decisions on sustainability-related issues. The course also allows you to dig deeper into topics such as sustainable finance instruments, methodologies and frameworks for integrating sustainability into financial decisions, key global initiatives and sustainable finance regulations. These topics are supplemented by examples and case studies from around the world.

The course is available in a self-paced format (i.e., you can take it any time) and has four modules that take about 10 hours to be completed. The target audience includes governments, academia, the financial sector, businesses, and civil society. To register for the course please register on the UN CC:e-Learn platform and then enrol to the course.

The Introduction to Sustainable Finance e-course was originally developed in 2018 by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, as part of their Strategic Alliance (STA) on Green Bond Market Development in G20 Emerging Economies, and the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), a One UN initiative bringing together five UN agencies. In 2021, the course has been comprehensively updated with technical inputs by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Take the course today.

Introduction to Sustainable Finance 2.0

Courses

This interactive and practice-oriented course, originally developed in 2018 and comprehensively updated in 2021, covers the basics of Sustainable Finance while providing several opportunities to dive deeper.

Enroll
  • Finance
  • Green Economy

Self-paced course

10 hours

Welcome!

This interactive and practice-oriented course, originally developed in 2018 and comprehensively updated in 2021, covers the basics of Sustainable Finance while providing several opportunities to dive deeper. The course covers sustainable finance instruments, methodologies and frameworks for integrating sustainability into financial decisions, key global sustainable finance initiatives, and sustainable finance regulations. It is designed for interested participants from governments, academia, the financial sector, businesses, and civil society.

What you will learn

  • Explains the potential contribution of sustainable finance to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change;
  • Explains the core concepts of sustainable finance and the relevance of sustainability considerations for the key actors in the financial system;
  • Describes the role that regulation and industry initiatives (self-regulation) play in shaping sustainable finance;
  • Describes different sustainable finance products, such as bonds and loans, that may be available to provide the capital needed to support the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals and the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

The course at a glance

This course is presented in four modules:

  1. Sustainable Finance in Context: two lessons describing the role that sustainable finance can play in delivering global goals on climate change and development.
  2. Fundamentals of Sustainable Finance: five interactive lessons explaining the core concepts of sustainable finance and the relevance of sustainability to finance sector decision-makers.
  3. Sustainable Finance: Regulation and Self-regulation: three interactive lessons analyzing the role that regulation and industry initiatives (self-regulation) play in shaping sustainable finance.
  4. Sustainable Finance Products: six interactive lessons describing some of the products, such as bonds and loans, that may be available to provide the capital needed to support the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals and the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Financing Local Adaptation to Climate Change: an Introduction to Performance-Based Climate Resilience Grants

Courses

This e-tutorial aims to provide an incursion through the LoCAL mechanism. It provides answers to a series of questions such as: Why are local governments in a position to address climate change at the local level?, How does LoCAL mechanism help local governments to address climate change?, What are the components LoCAL relies on and how are they interlinked?,  Where does LoCAL operate? and others more.

Enroll
  • Adaptation
  • Finance

Tutorial

1 hours

Building on two decades of experience in local development finance, the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) has established the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) to address the unfunded mandate of local governments in addressing climate change adaptation.

Local governments in least developed countries (LDCs) are in a unique position to identify the climate change adaptation responses that best meet local needs, and typically have the mandate to undertake the small- to medium-sized adaptation investments required for building climate resilience. Yet they frequently lack the resources to do so – particularly in a manner aligned with established local decision-making processes and planning, budgeting and budget execution cycles.  In this context, LoCAL comes to empower local governments to contribute towards the achievements of national determined contributions (NDCs) and NAPs where available.

This e-tutorial aims to provide an incursion through the LoCAL mechanism. It provides answers to a series of questions such as: Why are local governments in a position to address climate change at the local level?, How does LoCAL mechanism help local governments to address climate change?, What are the components LoCAL relies on and how are they interlinked?,  Where does LoCAL operate? and others more.

Who should take this tutorial?

While the e-tutorial is available to the general public we encourage the following categories of individuals to take it prior to attending any face to face training or webinar organised by UNCDF:

  • Field officers/UN Volunteers, and local/central government staff who are actively involved in LoCAL implementation at country level;
  • UNCDF and national experts who contribute to the scoping and design phase and lead during LoCAL implementation;
  • The engaged public and practitioners with an interest in understanding ways to leverage climate adaptation finance at the local level.

The learning experience

The e-tutorial contains a 4-minute video and an interactive lesson. The interactive lesson itself includes four sections and a variety of learning checkpoints helping you to remain engaged throughout. 

The e-tutorial does not provide certification, however, you will receive a badge, upon completion, acknowledging that you have acquired the knowledge provided on LoCAL. The badge will be sent to you by email and it can also be found under the “Certification” tab next to the “Course page”. Be aware that upon completion of all the activities a survey will be revealed for you to take. Please, take it. Your opinion counts and it will help us improve further. Moreover, the survey counts towards the badge issuance together with the other activities.

New e-Tutorial Lays out the Importance of Local Governments in Addressing Climate Change

2 December 2020

News

This newly launched e-tutorial brings to you UN Capital Development Fund’s two decades of experience in local development finance. Learn how local governments in least development countries can unveil and maximize action towards climate change adaptation through the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) Mechanism.

How effective local governments can be in tackling climate change? Aiming to answer this question and shed light on the importance of local government in the fight against climate change, UN CC:Learn has partnered with UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) to deliver a new e-tutorial on The LoCAL Mechanism which touches on the role these governments in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) have in identifying and executing the best climate change adaptation responses.

Local governments in LDCs are uniquely equipped to meet the needs of the local population and provide small-to -medium-sized adaptation investments. Nevertheless, they often stumble across financial constraints that hamper these activities. To bridge this gap and help solve this issue, the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) Mechanism can be an effective tool to empower local governments towards the achievements of their national determined contributions (NDCs) and their national adaptation plans (NAPs).

This e-tutorial aims to provide an incursion through the LoCAL mechanism. Through a 4-minute video and an interactive lesson, this learning resource provides answers to a series of questions such as: Why are local governments in a position to address climate change at the local level? How does LoCAL mechanism help local governments to address climate change? What are the components LoCAL relies on and how are they interlinked? Where does LoCAL operate? and others more.

While being open to everyone, people who may benefit greatly from this tutorial are:

  • Field officers/UN Volunteers, and local/central government staff who are actively involved in LoCAL implementation at country level.
  • UNCDF and national experts who contribute to the scoping and design phase and lead during LoCAL implementation.
  • The engaged public and practitioners with an interest in understanding ways to leverage climate adaptation finance at the local level.

This e-tutorial is currently available in English and can be accessed here.

Carbon Taxation

Courses

Today, carbon taxes cover a broad range of sectors and include novel features, demonstrating their ability to adapt to varying policy goals and national contexts. The versatility of carbon taxes also means that policymakers need a clear picture of the available options and how those options fit with the jurisdiction’s context and objectives. This online course provides a first step in understanding the carbon tax landscape.

Enroll
  • Finance
  • Climate Change

Self-paced course

12 hours

Key Results

  • 10760 learners
  • 2600 certificates issued

Welcome

Putting a price on carbon involves a fair amount of analysis and consultation with stakeholders. The overall goal of the course is to familiarize learners with underlying market dynamics, policy design options and relevant terminology. While the course is introductory in nature, learners will benefit greatly from a pre-existing understanding of:

  • The functioning of market economies, including basic concepts such as rational agency, the influence of prices on supply and demand, and investments
  • The role of public policy in shaping economic, social and environmental outcomes and achieving international and national commitments

This pre-existing knowledge is not a prerequisite to take the course. You are invited to enroll even if you believe you’re new to the topic!

What will you learn

Upon completion, you will be able to:

  • Describe how carbon taxes work in reducing greenhouse gas emissions
  • Outline key considerations that shape the decision to adopt carbon taxes
  • Summarize approaches for determining the carbon tax base and rate
  • Differentiate main undesirable effects and mitigation measures
  • List options for revenue use

Course at a glance

While being introduced to conceptual considerations of carbon taxation and its underlying economics, you will also benefit from exposure to a variety of case studies and international carbon pricing practices. The discussions take into account strategic aspects of the political environments in which carbon taxes function.

Module 1: Carbon taxes – Why and when to use them
Module 2: Preparing for carbon tax adoption
Module 3: Key design decisions
Module 4: Avoiding unwanted effects of the carbon tax
Module 5: Use of revenues

Get your certificate

Upon completing all five modules and passing the final quiz, you receive a certificate showing your understanding of the topic. Further details on how to obtain the certificate are presented in the course’s “Certification” section.

Partnership and contributors

Responding to the knowledge and skills needs of policymakers, the World Bank’s Partnership for Market Readiness (PMR) and United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) jointly developed this online course with contributions from Climate Focus and Gnarly Tree Sustainability Institute.

Indicators for an Inclusive Green Economy: Introductory Course

Courses

Applying green economy indicator methodologies requires policymakers to be trained to use them in their respective national contexts. This course introduces these indicators and explains the use of methodologies for selecting and applying them, with a focus on those set by PAGE.

Enroll
  • Green Economy
  • Finance

Self-paced course

2 hours

Welcome

The application of green economy indicator methodologies, including those developed under the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), often requires policymakers to be trained in applying the methodologies within their national contexts. Indeed, countries require training in developing tailored and flexible national indicator frameworks that respond to their development priorities and statistical capacities and aids in their efforts in monitoring the progress towards green economy.

This course is meant to introduce the concept of indicators to support policymaking for an Inclusive Green Economy (IGE) and to illustrate the use of methodologies for selecting and applying indicators. It seeks to contribute to the capacity of countries to choose indicators for IGE relevant to their country contexts, particularly in light of the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals.

If you encounter any difficulty or if you have any questions, please consult our help page.

What will you learn?

This course explains how indicators can support policymaking in measuring progress toward an Inclusive Green Economy. It reviews conceptual frameworks to guide countries in the selection of indicators and describes various approaches to indicator measurement. Finally, the course addresses the process of indicator selection and reviews the indicator frameworks used by some international organizations.

After completing the course, participants will be able to:

  • Describe the role and value of Green Economy indicator frameworks and their relation to improved green economy policymaking
  • Outline Green Economy indicator frameworks and their linkages with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
  • Analyse the process of prioritizing and selecting indicators and how this can be incorporated into a national Green Economy monitoring framework

The course at a glance

The course is self-paced and structured into four lessons:

  1. Introduction to concepts
  2. Choosing appropriate frameworks for green economy (GE) indicators
  3. Approaches to measurement
  4. Selecting green economy indicators

Each lesson takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. A downloadable glossary is available to help you with the relevant concepts and technical terms that are used in the course (please make sure you download it before starting the course).

Get a certificate!

A final quiz composed of ten multiple choice questions serves to assess learners’ achievement of the course’s learning objectives. The quiz can be taken at any time and attempted up to three times. Learners need to pass the quiz with a score of at least 70%. Once the quiz is successfully passed, a Certificate of Completion will be available for download on the course’s Certification page.

Partners

The course has been developed under the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), in collaboration with the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITCILO).