Sustainability Reporting Course

This course offers insights into the role of sustainability reporting in helping the world achieve sustainability goals.

In the past decade, regulators, investors, and other stakeholders have increasingly demanded more information about firms’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. This is evidenced by the exponential growth of sustainable investing in global capital markets and the mandating of disclosures by publicly listed firms.

This course evaluates the potential benefits of firms disclosing ESG information as well as significant challenges to be overcome, including the risk of greenwashing. It introduces students to existing and emerging ESG regulations and frameworks for ESG performance metrics. The course also explores how key market participants, such as capital providers (e.g., pension funds, private equity firms, banks, and asset managers), suppliers, and customers, could incorporate ESG information into their decision-making and the ways these participants could make a positive impact.

The teaching materials blend cutting-edge academic research, industry reports, regulatory filings, case studies, and news media discussions.

Students will take away from this course a solid understanding of 1) the foundations of corporate ESG activities, 2) the evolution and current development of worldwide ESG regulation and reporting requirements, 3) the pros and cons of ESG disclosure, and 4) the adoption of ESG information by different market participants.

Key information

• Prerequisites: Any undergraduate-level course with some accounting or finance content.

• Level: 200 level. Read more information on levels in our FAQs

• Fees: Please see Fees and payments

• Lectures: 36 hours

• Classes: 18 hours

• Assessment: A mid-session examination (50%) and a final examination (50%)

• Typical credit: 3-4 credits (US) 7.5 ECTS points (EU)Please note: Assessment is optional but may be required for credit by your home institution. Your home institution will be able to advise how you can meet their credit requirements. For more information on exams and credit, read Teaching and assessment

Is this course right for you?

This course is suited to intellectually curious individuals interested in foundational and practical aspects of organisational sustainability, its reporting and its relationship with the capital and product markets.The course will give students key insights relevant to careers in policy-making, asset managers and financial advisors with sustainable investing, banks with sustainable lending, ESG rating agencies, or the provision of ESG assurance services, such as auditing firms.

Outcomes

• To understand the core concepts of sustainability for corporations

• To understand how sustainability regulation and reporting requirements apply to different organisations

• To understand the economic drivers for ESG information from regulators, capital providers, suppliers and customers

• To critically evaluate the quality and usefulness of available ESG information, such as:

  • ESG ratings

  • Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and carbon footprint

  • Employee diversity and gender pay gap

  • Labour and environmental law compliance

  • Management and board diversity

• To evaluate the externalities of sustainability reporting: positive social impact versus greenwashing

• To analyse potential solutions to improve the usefulness of corporate sustainability reporting, such as:

  • Effectively mandating sustainability reporting

  • Standardising the adoption of sustainability practices

  • Third-party verification: sustainability assurance and ESG rating agencies