On completion of this module you will be able to:

• Understand how the core competencies of a finance professional mean they play a critical role in government achieving sustainable and resilient policies, programmes and projects.
• Explain why sustainability is relevant for government by exploring key drivers of uptake; commonly used tools and frameworks; how sustainability information is used by stakeholders.
• Describe how regulation is driving change and what this means for the future role of the finance function.

On completion of this module, you will be able to:

• Integrate the impacts of climate change into planning, analysis, and decision-making; understand the importance of considering financial, economic and social costs and benefits in a connected way.
• Analyse and explain the costs and benefits of climate actions, including climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience.
• Explain current regulation and government guidance around climate reporting, including the implications for finance professionals.
• Support consistency between the narrative report and the financial statements.
• Recognise how financial statements (and management accounts) are affected by climate-related matters; including an overview of the key accounting standards where this most commonly applies.

On completion of this module, you will be able to:

• Explain the importance of expanding sustainability beyond climate.
• Explain materiality in relation to sustainability and why social value is relevant.
• Use finance skills to support effective integration of key sustainability risks and opportunities across government business cases, ensuring that programmes and projects achieve their objectives and delivers value for money for the government.
• Work with other experts to establish robust data processes, controls and metrics to monitor sustainability performance.
• Apply core guidance in the Green Book and the Orange Book in developing and reviewing business cases.

On completion of this module, you will be able to:

• Interpret and apply professional scepticism to sustainability assessment results
• Recognise key sustainability frameworks that may feed into sustainability goal setting
• Explain how to integrate the impacts of and dependencies on sustainability issues into financial planning and analysis, policy design and strategic objectives
• Apply the accounting principles for disclosure to sustainability information
• Explain the importance of monitoring and evaluation and the processes and data needed
• Explain the role of internal audit in enhancing good governance and public accountability

The case study acts as a final capstone assessment to the programme. Working through a number of tasks, learners will have a chance to apply all of the knowledge gained from the course within a practical, real-to-life integrated scenario.

Learners will get hands-on with evaluating the financial impact of sustainability risks and opportunities, by applying the knowledge gained during the course to collaborate with sustainability experts, assess and present their findings, and ultimately integrate sustainability information into investment appraisal decisions.