Sustainability focuses on meeting our own needs, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainability does not only equate to environmental-ism, but considers the economy and society as well.

Sustainable finance is the adoption of this principle, and uses capital markets investment vehicles as a solution. This can be in the form of any financial services that integrates environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into business or investment decisions.

This module covers the basics of sustainable finance, including the sustainable development goals (SDGs), environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) criteria, and the ESG index, with opportunities to dive deeper into ESG issues and their impact.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Explain what SDGS, PRI and ESG are
- Define and explain water-related investments
- Understand how to implement ESG into portfolios
- Recognise the urgency and importance of sustainable finance

- Unpacking acronyms (SDGs, PRIs, ESG)
- Commitment to sustainable finance
- Water-related investments
i. Example 1: ING group
ii. Example 2: BNP Paribas
- UN Global Compact
- ESG index
- Growth of ESG investments
- Integration of ESG into portfolio