e-learning Master Class on EIB - Environmental and Social Sustainability Management

• An interactive e-learning course including video lectures, PDF scripts, practical exercises, online tests and case studies.
• A discussion forum for course related issues as well as for exchange of opinions and experiences with your classmates and tutors.
• Personalized support from your FSDF e-Campus Team.

This course is suitable for practitioners in financial intermediaries, loan officers, risk managers or other interested persons. It prepares you for the challenge of serving your clients in changing and increasingly competitive environments, while considering social and environmental risks in your operations.

The course takes 3 months assuming 5-7 hours of self-study per week. It consists of 4 units which build upon each other. You will take the units in sequence and will need to pass an online test before accessing the next unit.

The last unit includes a case study that has to be submitted on a fixed deadline

Upcon successful completion of the course, you will receive a Confirmation of Course Completion.

In Unit 1 you will be introduced to the topic. Unit 1 consists of three chapters. The first chapter explains why financial institutions do or should care about environmental and social issues. The second chapter outlines the main social and environmental risks that can affect financial institutions. The last chapter describes how financial institutions can manage environmental and social risks.

This Unit introduces you to the first Standard of the EIB, "Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Impacts and Risks". After completing this Unit you will be able to outline the main responsibilities of a client related to environmental and social impacts and risks accociated with the operations and explain the requirements of Standard 1 for the client and the Financial Institution.

This Unit introduces to the Social Standard of the EIB Environmental and Social Standards Handbook, covering the broad branch of social issues, including cultural heritage, involuntary resettlement, rights and interests of vulnerable groups, labour standards and occupational and public health, safety and security.

This Unit discusses the policies, procedures and resources that financial institutions use to manage E&S sustainability issues and risks in MSME lending. You will get to know international good practice approaches that will help financial institutions to meet EIB’s requirements at the management system level. You will also receive practical tips and guidance on implementing E&S risk management at the level of individual clients and transactions.

Unit 2 is the heart of the course. It consists of ten sub-units, each one explaining one of the ten E&S Standards of the EIB.

This Unit introduces to the Environmental Standards of the EIB Environmental and Social Standards Handbook, on "Pollution Prevention and Abatement", "Biodiversity and Ecosystems" and "Climate Change".

Special attention will be given on Stakeholder Engagement. This Unit makes you familiar with different stakeholders and their engagement in project planning and implementation.

Unit 4 consists of case studies that allow you to apply your newly acquired knowledge in "real life", taking the perspective from different actors involved in typical FI scenarios.