The new finance course to study at home during COVID-19

If you want to improve your employability at the end of the lockdown and you're not being hammered by the long hours inherent in homeworking, now might be the time to study a course that will embellish your resume come 2021. There's always the CFA exams, but these have now been postponed until December 2020 at the earliest. Alternatively, you could try to get ahead of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing curve with a new sustainability and climate risk course launched by the Global Association of Risk Professionals, Inc. (GARP).

The 'Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR) certificate' takes around 100 hours to study and is intended to "impart knowledge critical to mitigating sustainability and climate risk," says Magdalena Noga Estrada, GARP's VP of certifications and educational programs. You don't need any prior work experience relating to climate change or sustainability to study it, it's open to candidates globally, and it 'only' costs $650.

Richard Apostolik, GARP CEO, suggests the course will be relevant to anyone interested in sustainable investing, risk management, climate risk management, or anyone who wants to understand the theories of climate change and their effects on ESG. Estrada supplements the list with the suggestion that students, academics, policy makers and anyone working in business continuity management could benefit from the course too.

For their $650, students receive an e-book relating to the program’s curriculum. The course consists of six modules including foundations of climate change, sustainable finance, climate risk measurement and management, scenarios, ESG and governmental policies, regulations and their implications. When it's completed you take a three hour 80 question multiple choice exam, and if you pass you receive the SCR credential.

Registration opens on May 1st. After registering, candidates have 12 months to schedule an exam (sittings are September and November in 2020). 

The new course comes as interest in ESG is predicted to increase dramatically after the COVID-19 crisis. As we reported yesterday, renewables boutiques on both sides of the Atlantic have already been hiring. 

Of course, if you don't want to commit to 100 hours of study and a three-hour exam during the lockdown, there are other alternatives. John Hopkins University is, for example, offering a course in COVID-19 that's entirely free to anyone who wants to take it and feel superior in Zoom meetings that discuss the pandemic.

Photo by Dillon Shook on Unsplash

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