Climate Finance/Environmental Sustainability Short Course

Course Title:   Climate Finance/ Environmental Sustainability Training 

Course Overview.

Climate finance refers to local, national or transnational financing—drawn from public, private and alternative sources of financing—that seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change.

The world faces a triple and interconnected crisis: a climate emergency, rapid biodiversity destruction and entrenched poverty. The next ten years are crucial to prepare, adapt and transform our societies, economies and ecosystems.  The Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement call for financial assistance from Parties with more financial resources to those that are less endowed and more vulnerable. Climate finance is needed for mitigation, because large-scale investments are required to significantly reduce emissions. Climate finance is equally important for adaptation, as significant financial resources are needed to adapt to the adverse effects and reduce the impacts of a changing climate.

Main Training Modules

The science of Climate Change

• Understanding the science behind climate change
• Identifying climate change vulnerability and adaptation strategies
• Exploring climate change mitigation techniques

Stakeholders in Climate Finance

• Role of governments and international organizations
• Private sector engagement: banks, investors, corporations
• Civil society organizations
• Community involvement

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Principles

• ESG factors and financial performance
• Investor preferences and demand for sustainable investments
• ESG incorporation into investment strategies

Climate Change Policies and Plans

• Overview of the UNFCCC and the Paris Climate Agreement
• Developing and implementing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
• Formulating National Adaptation Plans (NAPs)
• Crafting national climate strategies, policies, and plans

Global Climate Finance Landscape

• Mapping out global climate finance mechanisms
• Understanding the role of the UNFCCC in climate finance
• Analyzing multilateral climate finance sources
• Investigating bilateral climate finance agreements
• Assessing the effectiveness of current climate finance flows

Climate Change and Green Investment Projects

• Identifying various climate finance instruments
• Financing cleantech and sustainable technology projects
• Structuring and financing adaptation projects

Carbon Pricing

• Importance of carbon pricing in climate change mitigation
• Impact of Carbon Pricing
• Corporate responses to carbon pricing: emissions reduction targets, carbon pricing internalization

Private Sector and Green Investment

• Identifying challenges in private sector green investments
• Exploring opportunities for private sector involvement in climate finance

Climate Adaptation Project Development

• Conducting prefeasibility studies for climate adaptation projects
• Preparing concept notes for funding climate adaptation initiatives
• Undertaking feasibility studies for climate adaptation projects
• Developing full project proposals for climate adaptation funding
• Securing funding and resources for climate adaptation projects

Mainstreaming Gender into Climate Finance

• Understanding gender issues in climate finance
• Integrating gender considerations into NDCs

Safeguards and IP Considerations

• Understanding safeguards considerations in climate finance
• Addressing intellectual property (IP) considerations in climate finance
• Implementing safeguard policies in climate finance projects
• Managing IP rights in climate technology projects

Monitoring and Evaluation of Climate Finance Projects

• Designing monitoring and evaluation frameworks for climate finance projects
• Utilizing key performance indicators (KPIs) in climate finance
• Conducting impact assessments of climate finance initiatives
• Reporting and documenting climate finance project outcomes

Training Evaluation:

Participants will undertake a simple assessment before the training to gauge knowledge and skills and another assessment will be done after the training in-order to demonstrate knowledge gained through the training.