Universität Wien

040162 KU Climate Finance and Sustainability (MA) (2023S)

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 4 - Wirtschaftswissenschaften
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 50 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Session 1 (3 hours, 10.00-1.00pm, Hörsaal (Lecture Hall) 15, Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, 2nd Floor (Bestätigt), Friday 2nd June 2023):
 Lecture (10.00-11.30am): Introduction to climate change issues from multidisciplinary perspectives (1 hour and 30 minutes)
 Seminar (11.45-1.00pm): Introduction to course assessments, session reading discussion and using the Global 2050 Calculator model (preparation required: read designated x1 text in advance and get familiar with the Global 2050 Calculator)

Session 2 (3 hours, 2.00-5.00pm, Hörsaal (Lecture Hall) 15, Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, 2nd Floor (Bestätigt), Friday 2nd June 2023):
 Lecture (2.00-3.30pm): Landscape of international private climate investment and investment traps in developing countries (Guest Lecturer to be confirmed)
 Seminar (3.45-5.00pm): Critical analysis and evidence quality training, and session reading discussion (preparation required: read designated x1 text in advance)

Session 3 (3 hours, 10.00-1.00pm, Hörsaal (Lecture Hall) 15, Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, 2nd Floor (Bestätigt), Saturday 3rd June 2023):
 Lecture (10.00-11.30am): Key concepts and approaches in international public climate finance
 Seminar (11.45-1.00pm): Session reading discussion and international climate finance small-group role play scenario (preparation required: read designated x1 text in advance)

Session 4 (3 hours, 2.00-5.00pm, Hörsaal (Lecture Hall) 15, Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, 2nd Floor (Bestätigt), Saturday 3rd June 2023):
 Lecture (2.00-3.30pm): Business and sustainability
 Seminar (3.45-5.00pm): Session reading discussion and corporate internal decarbonisation plan small-group exercise (preparation required: read designated x1 text in advance)

Session 5 (3 hours, 10.00-1.00pm, Hörsaal (Lecture Hall) 15, Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, 2nd Floor (Bestätigt), Friday 30th June 2023):
 Lecture (10.00-11.30am): Sectoral deep dives on energy and resources
 Seminar (11.45-12.00pm): Session reading discussion and small-group energy and resources problem-solving scenario (preparation required: read designated x1 text in advance)

Session 6 (3 hours, 2.00-5.00pm, Hörsaal (Lecture Hall) 15, Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, 2nd Floor (Bestätigt), Friday 30th June 2023):
 Lecture (2.00-3.30pm): Sectoral deep dives on transport and industry
 Seminar (11.45-1.00pm): Session reading discussion, individual project proposals course assessment top tips and designing climate finance projects exercise (preparation required: read designated x1 text in advance)

Session 7 (3 hours, 10.00-1.00pm, Hörsaal (Lecture Hall) 15, Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, 2nd Floor (Bestätigt), Saturday 1st July 2023):
 Lecture (10.00-11.00am): Thematic deep dive on Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) (Guest Lecturer to be confirmed)
 Seminar (11.15-1.00pm): Assessment presentations (preparation required: 10-slide Powerpoint presentation for presenting groups (groups 1-5) – slides must be submitted in advance)

Session 8 (3 hours, 2.00-5.00pm, Hörsaal (Lecture Hall) 15, Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, 2nd Floor (Bestätigt), Saturday 1st July 2023):
 Seminar (2.00-3.40pm): Assessment presentations (preparation required: 10-slide Powerpoint presentation for presenting groups (groups 6-10) – slides must be submitted in advance)
 Seminar (3.55-5.00pm): Small-group discussions on plans for the individual project proposals course assessment and course summary small-groups quiz (preparation required: draft plans for the individual project proposals course assessment)

Friday 02.06. 09:45 - 20:00 Hörsaal 15 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 2.Stock
Saturday 03.06. 09:45 - 20:00 Hörsaal 15 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 2.Stock
Friday 30.06. 09:45 - 14:45 Hörsaal 15 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 2.Stock
Friday 30.06. 15:00 - 20:00 Hörsaal 15 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 2.Stock
Hörsaal 8 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 1.Stock
Saturday 01.07. 09:45 - 20:00 Hörsaal 4 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 Erdgeschoß

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Course Summary

Aim:
o To introduce students to the field of climate finance & sustainability from a multi-disciplinary perspective

Objectives:
o To build students’ understanding of public climate finance and leveraging private climate investment
o To develop students’ understanding of internal and external approaches to (environmental) sustainability within organisations

Hours:
o 24 hours of in-person interactive lectures (Lecturer presentations) and seminars (class activities)
o Self-study to undertake the required seminar preparations, course readings (x1 designated text per session for sessions 1-6) and work on the course assessments
o 1 hour office hour per teaching day (15-minute slots – must pre-booked in advance through Moodle and on a first-come-first-served basis; a 1.5-hour office hour will be held after the final teaching session)
o Morning sessions will be 10.00-1.00pm and afternoon sessions will be 2.00-5.00pm Vienna time (specific room locations below)

Lecturer:
o Dr. Peter Warren (Lecturer in Climate Finance & Sustainability)
o 1-2 guest lecturers to be confirmed (remote or in-person)

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of the 21st century due to its multi-sectoral, global dimension with impacts on all areas of society. Public finance, private investment and business management have important roles to play in contributing to addressing these issues and supporting sustainable economic, environmental and social development. This course will provide students with a background in climate change issues from a multi-disciplinary perspective, particularly deep diving into the role of public climate finance and leveraging private climate investment, internal and external approaches to (environmental) sustainability within organisations, climate change policy and science. Students will be introduced to a variety of topics, such as:

- Introductory background on climate change issues from a multi-disciplinary perspective
- Key concepts, policy, mechanisms and approaches in international climate finance (public finance and leveraging private investment), and current key challenges
- Key concepts, frameworks and analytical considerations in internal and external corporate (environmental) sustainability issues
- Deep dives into key sectors, particularly (clean) energy, transport, resources and industry

Students will be able to situate current issues within a broader theoretical and comparative context, and will gain an understanding of how to critically evaluate key approaches in these areas. The balance between theory and practice in the course will situate students well for being introduced to the field as part of potential future career interests in this area within consultancies, the finance and investment industry, the public sector, international organisations, and wider industry and companies. However, the course is not a substitute for (non-academic) practitioner qualifications in the field and consequently will not cover areas such as private finance fund structures, financing structures (e.g. project finance) or techniques to assess the financial viability of projects. Instead, the course is more oriented towards public finance and leveraging private investment, business sustainability management, and policy issues in key sectors of relevance to climate finance and sustainability (particularly energy, transport, resources and industry).

By the end of the course, students will have:
- Built an understanding of public climate finance and leveraging private climate investment
- Developed an understanding of internal and external approaches to (environmental) sustainability within organisations

Assessment and permitted materials

Course Assessments:

10-slide small-group analytical presentation (40% of marks):
 Deadline: 6pm Vienna time on Friday 30th June 2023
 Requires undertaking the analysis
 Topics will be pre-defined and groups assigned in the first teaching session (groups and topics will be posted on the CFS Moodle page)
 Presentations will be held in-person in the final teaching session
 Where each student in a presentation group has contributed equally, each team member will receive the same overall mark for this assessment (see below for the process followed where any groups feel that a team member is not contributing equally)

2,000-word individual project proposal (45% of marks):
 Deadline: 1pm Vienna time on Friday 14th July 2023
 Does not require implementing the proposed project in practice and is based on designing and outlining a project proposal
 A selection of broad topics will be made available in the first teaching session (topics will be posted on Moodle)

Active class participation (15% of the marks)
 Proactively answering questions in-class and actively taking part in small-group discussions and feeding back to the rest of the class on discussions
 Doing the designated readings for sessions 1-6 as a minimum for reading
 Asking questions to other groups during the presentation course assessment seminars
 Attending all teaching sessions (planned absences should be communicated to the Lecturer for authorisation as far in advance as possible)
 Completing the course evaluation (will be posted on the CFS Moodle page after the final teaching session and must be completed by 1pm Vienna time on Friday 14th July 2023)

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

To pass the course, you need to achieve an aggregated score of at least 50% from the three course assessments. The marking schemes for each course assessment are provided in the 'Course Outline - Climate Finance and Sustainability 2022-2023' document on the CFS Moodle page under 'Course Information'.

Examination topics

The course does not contain any exams and is assessed by a small-group analysis presentation, an individual project proposal and active class participation. The topics for the small-group analysis presentations and the individual project proposals will be made available on the CFS Moodle page in the first teaching session.

Reading list

For teaching sessions 1-6, there is x1 designated text that must be read in advance of each teaching session. Pdfs of the texts are located on the CFS Moodle page under the relevant teaching session. The texts are discussed in the seminars of each teaching session and students should come prepared to discuss the texts and to answer questions on them.

A wider 'Climate Finance and Investment Bibliography' document can be found on the CFS Moodle page under 'Course Information', which provides a bibliography for students wishing to undertake further reading in the field throughout the course (though students are encouraged to search for, and read beyond, this bibliography as well).

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Fr 30.06.2023 10:06