Green Finance and Carbon Markets: Tools for Academics

About This Course

As the world increasingly looks for ways to address climate change through financial mechanisms, green finance and carbon markets have emerged as crucial tools. From carbon pricing and carbon trading systems to ESG investments and climate risk disclosures, understanding these areas is vital for anyone engaged in policy, economics, or climate-related research.

This 3-week virtual course is designed specifically for academics and researchers, offering a deep dive into the key instruments and financial systems used in sustainable finance. Whether you’re teaching, researching, or shaping policy, this course will provide you with the tools and frameworks to incorporate green finance concepts into your work. Using expert-led insights, real-world case studies, and interactive sessions, you’ll gain practical knowledge that can be applied to your own curricula, research, and academic publications.

Aim

To equip academic professionals and researchers with the foundational and advanced tools to understand, analyze, and teach green finance principles, carbon pricing mechanisms, and climate-aligned investment practices.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Enhance academic capacity in climate-aligned financial systems

• Equip educators with practical tools for teaching sustainable finance topics

• Promote evidence-based research and understanding of carbon markets

• Facilitate interdisciplinary research at the intersection of climate finance, economics, and policy

• Support academia’s role in training the next generation of climate finance professionals

Course Structure

Module 1: Foundations and Research Landscape

• Global Overview:

  • Introduction to green finance and carbon markets

  • Key international policies and frameworks:

    • Paris Agreement

    • EU Green Deal

    • Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• Key Instruments:

  • Green Bonds, Carbon Credits, and Compliance & Voluntary Markets

• Research Tools:

  • Bibliometric Mapping using VOSviewer

• Open Data Sources:

  • UNFCCC, World Bank, EMBER, CDP, Climate Watch

• Hands-On Activities:

  • Carbon pricing analysis using publicly available dashboards

  • Mapping literature trends in green finance with VOSviewer

Module 2: Financial Analytics and Market Simulations

• Green Bond Structuring & Evaluation:

  • Frameworks from ICMA

• Carbon Market Modeling:

  • Pricing, trading, and risk analysis in carbon markets

• Data Analytics with Python:

  • Pandas, Matplotlib, Statsmodels for financial modeling

• Case Analysis:

  • EU ETS, Verra Registry, Gold Standard

• Hands-On Activities:

  • Simulate real-world carbon credit trading scenarios

  • Analyze green finance datasets using Python or Excel

Module 3: Research Design and Policy Integration

• Academic Research Frameworks:

  • Structuring research papers, proposals, and policy recommendations

• Bibliometric Analysis with R:

  • Using Bibliometrix for literature mapping

• Mapping Research to SDGs and Climate Policy:

  • Aligning research with tools like IEA, IFPRI, and Climate Action Tracker

• Publishing Strategies:

  • Target journals for green finance and data-driven research

• Hands-On Activities:

  • Develop a research proposal (individual/group)

  • Visualize citation networks and SDG alignment of your research

Who Should Enrol?

• University and college faculty in finance, economics, sustainability, or policy

• PhD and postgraduate students in environmental economics and green finance

• Researchers in climate science and development studies

• Curriculum designers and academic coordinators

• Think tank members and research assistants focused on sustainable finance