The Sustainable Corporate Finance course equips learners with the skills to integrate sustainability into financial strategies and models, driving long-term value for businesses and stakeholders. Participants will learn how to align financial decisions with sustainability goals and regulations, gaining practical insights through case studies and expert industry guidance.
This course is tailored for finance students, finance professionals, and anyone with a strong interest in sustainable finance. While no specific prior knowledge is required, some familiarity with corporate finance is desirable to fully grasp the topics discussed. Completing the Principles of Sustainable Finance course offered by Erasmus University Rotterdam is also highly recommended, as it provides essential context and foundational concepts to deepen your understanding of this course.
Overview
Syllabus
- Introduction
- Welcome to the Sustainable Corporate Finance course!
- The Company within Social and Planetary Boundaries
- In this module, you’ll learn about the planetary boundaries, social foundations, SDGs, and explore the integrated model—a new way of thinking beyond the shareholder and stakeholder models. You'll discover how this model solves governance challenges and works in practice. Let’s dive in!
- Integrated Value Creation
- Building on the previous module’s focus on social and planetary boundaries, this module shows how companies can create value through sustainability. You’ll learn how integrating purpose, strategy, and business models leads to long-term value for both the business and society. As sustainability transitions reshape industries, you’ll see how companies can adapt and thrive.
- Discount Rates and Value Calculation
- You will discover how companies use financial discounting to evaluate whether projects are worth pursuing. Sustainability and integrated value are essential for long-term success, but how do you factor in the social and environmental impacts of projects when making financial decisions? This module shows you how to use discount rates to consider financial, social and environmental costs.
- Investment Decisions
- You learned how to factor social and environmental impacts into financial decisions. Now, this module takes you a step further into how those ideas come to life in investment choices. You’ll explore how to adapt traditional capital budgeting to account for sustainability and how corporate governance can steer these decisions. This module equips you with the knowledge of how firms can make investment decisions that are financially smart and aligned with long-term, sustainable value.
- Valuing Bonds and Equity
- This module focuses on how sustainability influences bond and equity markets. Here, you'll go deeper into how sustainability factors are integrated into bond pricing, equity valuation, and the broader financial system. This module adds a critical layer to your knowledge by showing you how traditional financial tools, like interest rates and credit ratings, can be adapted to reflect long-term value through a sustainability lens.
- Integrated Value Case Study
- You’ll apply integrated valuation to a real-world case study—Inditex. Learn to analyze a company’s business model, tackle transition challenges, and calculate its integrated value, considering social and environmental impacts. This module highlights the real-world implications of impact reporting and helps you bridge the gap between theory and practice.
- Risk-Return Analysis and Cost of Capital
- This module focuses on financial tools to assess risks and returns with a sustainability perspective. Learn to consider social, environmental, and financial risks for better, future-focused investment decisions. Explore the true cost of different types of capital and understand how sustainability shapes risk analysis and influences a company’s financial strategy.
- Capital Markets
- You’ll expand your focus from firms to the broader market perspective, applying your sustainability knowledge to capital markets. You’ll learn how investor behavior affects market dynamics and explore adaptive market theory and impact investing, where financial returns meet positive social and environmental outcomes. This module connects sustainability with market performance, providing crucial context for the markets in which firms operate.
- Capital Structure
- In this module, you’ll learn about financial capital structure – how it affects payouts and shareholder value, how it is influenced by social and environmental factors and how to integrate these considerations into a company’s financial strategy. Building on Module 9’s capital markets and impact investing, the following lessons connect the external market dynamics with internal financial structures, helping you discover how sustainability factors can shape both market performance and company decisions.
- Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)
- You’ll review the basics of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and their valuation methods. You’ll see how social and environmental factors play a crucial role in the M&A process and due diligence. The module highlights the value of integrating these factors into deal assessments, using a real-world case study—Kraft Heinz and Unilever—to show how sustainability can drive better M&A outcomes.
- Closing
- Wrap up your journey with this final module! Reflect on the key takeaways from the course and explore future trends in sustainable corporate finance. Watch three insightful videos featuring conversations between the main course instructor and experts from industry and academia. Discover how sustainable finance is transforming corporate practices and strategies, highlighting the growing importance of these skills and knowledge for future professionals.
Taught by
Dirk Schoenmaker
