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Week 1 of eight in the Green Finance Professional Certificate, 108 contact hours for finance professionals, taught at the University of Twente and published by the Erasmus+ GREEN FINANCE project under CC BY 4.0. The project's second programme, the micro-credential, is five modules and 30 lessons worth 4 credits in the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS).

Week 1: Green Finance Fundamentals

Learning Goals

  1. Understand the theoretical foundations of sustainable finance and its role in addressing climate change
  2. Quantify market developments through analysis of green bond growth, regional distribution, and issuer composition
  3. Apply analytical frameworks to evaluate green finance instruments and investment opportunities

Topics Covered

  • Definition and scope of green finance
  • Historical development and market growth
  • Key instruments: green bonds, sustainability-linked bonds, transition bonds
  • Regulatory landscape overview
  • Investment gap analysis

Key Statistics

  • Global green bond market: $2.9 trillion (2024)
  • CAGR 2015-2024: 28.1%
  • Regional distribution: Europe 45%, APAC 25%, Americas 25%

Materials

Charts

The week includes 17 data visualizations covering:

  • Market growth trends
  • Regional distribution
  • Issuer composition
  • Investment gap analysis
  • Risk-return profiles

(c) Joerg Osterrieder, University of Twente

The project's published teaching material is free to use under CC BY 4.0. Attribute it to the GREEN FINANCE consortium and name the grant, 101237817.

Co-funded by the European Union - Erasmus+ Programme

Erasmus+ Programme | Capacity Building in Higher Education
Project 101237817 - GREEN FINANCE
Material on this site is published under CC BY 4.0, attributed to the GREEN FINANCE consortium.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.