Certificate
Climate Risk, Valuation, and Investing Certificate - Jan 2025
Develop the competencies and skills needed to integrate climate-related investing principles into the investment process and expand your network within a community of professionals.
The next cohort starts on 6 January.USD 1,590.00
About This Certificate
The Climate Risk, Valuation, and Investing Certificate uses application-based activities and case studies from around the world to help you learn to apply climate-related investment principles to real-world scenarios. Learn how to integrate climate principles into valuations and portfolio building, conduct scenario analysis, and communicate your insights effectively with stakeholders.
Join a global community of learners as you progress through the certificate, building your network and exchanging ideas while supported by an expert facilitator to ensure you get the most out of your cohort experience.
Hong Kong SAR Government Funding Scheme: The CFA Institute Climate Risk, Valuation, and Investing Certificate is one of the Eligible Programs under the Pilot Green and Sustainable Finance Capacity Building Support Scheme (Program Identification Code: GTP-080240). Upon successful completion of the certificate, eligible applicants can apply for a subsidy of up to 80% of the exam registration fees, where full-time students can claim up to 100% reimbursement. Learn More
Discover the benefits of earning a certificate in climate investing
Courses and Final Assessment
Each course spans four weeks, with a week’s buffer before the next course begins. You can decide how to allot your time each week, but it will be important to keep pace with each course. As part of a cohort, you’ll share ideas, broaden perspectives, and cultivate valuable skills and competencies in climate investing. Learn more about the cohort experience (PDF)
The courses and final assessment are to be completed in the order that they appear. Courses must be completed successfully to sit for the final assessment. Course descriptions are provided below or you can view the learning outcomes (PDF).
You have the flexibility to study each course and complete the quizzes and assignment at your own pace. So if you are unable to study for a period or if you are away for a week or two you should still have time to complete a course within the schedule.
Duration: 6 Jan - 9 Feb 2025
Week of 3 Feb - 9 Feb 2025: Wrap-up and prepare for next course
This course builds your understanding of climate science, the associated risks and opportunities for corporations and investors, and the regulatory responses. By the end of the course, you will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to understand the evolving landscape of climate change, its impacts and government responses.
Duration: 10 Feb - 16 Mar 2025
Week of 10 Mar - 16 Mar 2025: Wrap-up and prepare for next course
Climate change considerations are often framed as either physical risks or transition risks. Physical risks include damage to or destruction of assets by severe weather and can often be insured against or diversified. Transition risks are losses related to the transition to a lower carbon economy, which may result from regulations or shifting consumer demand.
The focus of this course is to help you understand how companies make their transition plans and the frameworks and standards used in transition planning. This course explores how companies finance new projects and invest new business models.
Duration: 17 Mar - 20 April 2025
Week of 14 April - 20 April 2025: Wrap-up and prepare for next course
This course provides you with an understanding of the nature of material climate-related risks and opportunities and their impact on corporate performance and valuation. It explores climate data, metrics and tools, including stress testing and climate scenarios. The course then focuses on the application of these tools in analyzing two asset classes: equity and fixed income.
Some tables or charts incorporated in this course may be freely available on the source's website.
Duration: 21 April - 25 May 2025
Week of 19 May - 25 May 2025: Wrap-up and prepare for next course
This course builds your understanding of the strengths and limitations of integrating climate risks and opportunities in the investment process. It covers four key asset classes: private equity, private debt, infrastructure and real estate. You will gain knowledge of climate-related tools and metrics for asset valuation and assess the strengths and limitations of managing each asset class in the context of climate change.
Duration: 26 May - 22 June 2025
This course is designed to help you deepen your understanding of the impacts of climate change on portfolio management, risk management, and engagement and stewardship. You will explore the integration of climate-related factors into portfolio construction and risk management and develop strategies for engaging with companies on climate issues. Through a combination of theoretical concepts and real-world case studies, you will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate the evolving landscape of climate change and sustainable investing in portfolio management.
Upon successfully completing the requirements for Courses 1 - 5, you will be eligible to complete the final assessment. The final assessment will be an online, unproctored assessment consisting of 60 multiple-choice questions. You will need to achieve a score of 42/60 to pass the final assessment. You will have two attempts to do this. Once you have passed the final assessment, you will earn the Climate Risk, Valuation, and Investing Certificate.
Prerequisites
Foundational knowledge and skills in financial statement analysis and valuation are recommended. If you are less familiar with these concepts, you will find the supporting reading material and the guided nature of the lessons will help you to get the most out of each course and to complete your assignments.
What You’ll Learn
On completing the certificate, you will have developed the following skills and competencies and be able to demonstrate that you can:
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Communicate and explain climate science concepts to clients, helping them to understand climate risk adaptation and mitigation.
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Analyze a company's transition plan, its financial position as demonstrated by its balance sheet, how these activities will be financed, and the risks and opportunities to the company and its investors.
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Analyze a company's climate disclosure and risks, integrate climate risks and considerations into a financial model, and adjust projections and discount rates to revise a valuation.
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Analyze the financial projections of an investment project (private equity, venture capital, real estate, or infrastructure), including a range of scenarios, and adjust it by integrating climate factors.
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Analyze and adjust a portfolio so it is aligned with a net-zero pathway; assess portfolio construction implications of overweighting vs underweighting certain stocks, biases or tilts towards developed markets versus emerging markets, and large versus small/mid cap issuers.
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Analyze an environmental resolution put forward by a company, and provide a recommendation for conducting an engagement activity.
Topics Covered
- Climate Science and Climate Risk Measurements
- Climate Regulations and Policy
- Carbon Pricing
- Climate Change-Related Investment Risks and Opportunities
- Investment Analysis and Valuation for Public Companies: Listed Equity and Fixed Income
- Investment Analysis and Valuation for Private Companies: Private Equity and Private Debt
- Portfolio Construction and Risk Management
- Climate Engagement and Stewardship
- Climate Disclosure and Reporting