Chief Sustainability Officers are expected to become - next to COO, CFO and CRO - one of the most in-demand and central professions in corporate strategy-making in the coming years, as increasing sustainability regulations and the related technical sophistication needed to manage this topic increasingly require specialist skills in corporate organizations. The purpose of the course is to provide students with all essential knowledge, capabilities and technical skills needed for deeply understanding the complex ESG and sustainable finance fundamentals while gaining a robust methodological approach to confidently operate in such areas. During the learning path, students will learn how to: • Apply ESG & sustainable finance-related principles, regulations, frameworks, and operational tools to different business contexts; • Integrate ESG factors in the corporate’s strategies, risk management, and monitoring processes; • Implement a sustainable finance approach along the entire investment process; • Use specific tools and financial instruments being part of the sustainable finance as well as enhance the ESG ratings so to enable the company to have better access to new capital; • Assess the impact of the new emerging risks related to climate change (physical and transition risks) for corporations, project finance, financial institutions, and their systemic interrelations; • Develop a ESG performance monitoring system and implement a complete sustainability reporting cycle. Frameworks and operational methodologies delivered to the students during the course will include: • International frameworks for integrating ESG into the business and investment practices, such as the UN Principles for Responsible Investment, the UN Global Compact, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the ISO 26000 guidelines on Social Responsibility, the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises, the Equator Principles, the World Bank/IFC Sustainability Framework, etc.; • EU Sustainable Finance Strategy tools and requirements, such as the EU Green Deal, the EU Taxonomy for sustainable activities, the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulations, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, etc., as well as the comparable frameworks applicable and emerging in other geographies (e.g., North America, Asia-Pacific); • Theoretical and operational tools for identifying and evaluating sustainability risks and opportunities, with particular focus on climate-related physical and transition risks, climate scenario analysis and methodologies to quantify how such risks and opportunities affect a company/investment performance, position, and cash flows; • Standards and methods for measuring, reporting, and disclosing ESG performance, such as the GRI Standards, the European sustainability reporting standards (ESRS), the developing International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations, etc.; • Standards for structuring sustainable finance products, such as the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Green Bond Principles (GBP), Social Bond Principles (SBP), Sustainability Bond Guidelines (SBG), Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles (SLBP). • Methodologies and approaches applied by major ESG rating agencies (e.g., Morgan Stanley Capital International ESG, Sustainalytics, ISS ESG, VigeoEiris, FTSE Russel ESG, S&P CSA, EcoVadis, etc.) to assess corporations and sustainable finance products. Particular attention will be paid to the analysis of different sustainable investment strategies in high-impact sectors, such as infrastructure and energy, and to the analysis of risks related to business resilience.

Basic knowledge and understanding of finance and microeconomics. Good knowledge of English (oral and written). Strong interest for sustainability matters as the course requires an active participation.

The course is divided into five main modules, as follows: • ESG and Sustainable Finance fundamentals – the first module provides an overview on the evolution of the ESG matters at the international scale, focusing on the origins, development, and emerging trends of sustainability-related topics relevant at institutional, corporate, and financial level. Furthermore, students will be introduced to the concept of Sustainable Finance and related definitions, tools and instruments. The module then examinates in detail the regulatory frameworks applicable in the European Union and in other relevant geographies. • Sustainability strategies and management – the second module focuses on theoretical principles and practical frameworks including methodologies to integrate ESG factors in the business, under a double perspective: corporates and investors. Under the corporate perspective, the module explores the relevant standards and operational tools for carrying out corporate assessments based on the double materiality approach (i.e., impact materiality, financial materiality), as well as integrating material ESG factors in the main business processes (such as strategic planning, governance, risk management, HR, operations, finance, supply chain, investor relations and communication). Under the investors perspective, the module provides a detailed outline of the most relevant sustainable finance strategies available to investors, how them can be integrated in their policies and due diligence procedures, focusing on the approaches and methodologies to perform ESG impacts, risks and opportunities assessments. • Climate risk management – the third module explores in detail one of the most urgent ESG topics, i.e., climate change, focusing on how it impacts corporations, projects, financial institutions, and how regulatory and supervisory authorities are dealing with it. A specific part of this module is devoted to project risk analysis, with related methodologies and techniques to quantify climate-related physical and transition risks using climate scenario analysis to evaluate investments / portfolios’ resiliency; • ESG reporting – the fourth module explores the ESG monitoring and reporting landscape, deep diving into the evolution of sustainability reporting regulations, standards, and frameworks. It provides a detailed view on the operational tools available for implementing robust monitoring and reporting systems at corporate and project finance level. A specific part of this module focuses on environmental reporting, providing practical tools and exercises on the implementation of greenhouse gases (GHG) emission inventories, measurement of carbon footprints and transition plans, exploring how to develop a decarbonization pathway using internationally-recognised methodologies (such as SBTi – Science-based Target Initiative); • Financial instruments and ESG ratings – the fifth module focuses on sustainable finance products available to market participants, exploring: i) ESG ratings and their use by corporates and the financial industry; ii) ESG structured finance instruments with a corporate and project finance perspective (i.e., green, social, climate, sustainability-linked, SDG bonds, as well as Equator Principles/IFC-aligned loans). This final module is intended to provide an in-depth understanding on how all the topics dealt with in the previous modules influence the ability of undertakings (corporates/investors) to receive better evaluations from ESG rating agencies and/or obtain better financial conditions from banks and lenders.

Lesson slides will be provided at the end of each session. Suggested readings: European Commission, COM (2021) 390. Strategy for Financing the Transition to a Sustainable Economy. Schoenmaker, Dirk and Schramade, Willem, 2019. Principles of Sustainable Finance, Oxford University Press. Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), 2017. Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. Freeman R., Harrison J., Wicks A., Palmar B., De Colle S., 2010. Stakeholder Theory the state of the Art. Cambridge University Press. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2008. OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Other papers and publications may be suggested during the course.

Teaching methods will include lectures, case studies, presentations from corporate experts, in-class exercises, homework, and class discussion of assignments.

Students will be assessed during the course by means of various exercises and at the end of the course by means of a final examination. Such final examination will cover the entire program but its weight on the final grade will not exceed 30% of the total. The final exam will be structured as follows: Section 1: multiple choices (n.22 questions – 0.5 points – 30 minutes) Section 2: Q&A (n.8 questions and answers – up to 1.5 points – 50 minutes) Section 3: open questions and technical exercises (n.2 questions up to 2 points each; n.2 exercises up to 2.5 points each – 60 minutes). Attendance and active participation in class activities will be useful fot intermin exercise and will be positively considered.

Motivation and active participation during the course, preferably with a satisfactory grade (i.e., no less than 27/30).