SSE Academy

Education & Training

UN member States agreed on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be accomplished by 2030. The following targets are directly addressed by this topic: 

Target 4.7: By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development

Target 17.16:Enhance the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in all countries, in particular developing countries

About the Academy

The SSE Academy is the UN SSE’s education arm focused on the provision of globally consistent and pragmatic training for market participants on the adoption and implementation of sustainable finance practices. Together with its education partners, the SSE Academy develops certified training programs made available to capital market participants free of charge with the objective of supporting the education and training needs of stock exchanges . By partnering with topic experts and specialists, the SSE Academy’s mission is to support stock exchanges in their efforts to bring their markets up-to-date with pragmatic educational resources on key sustainability-related issues.

The Goal

Stock exchanges have their finger on the pulse of local market knowledge and capacity-building demands, but do not always have the resources or expertise to facilitate training on topics that are quickly evolving. To support stock exchange’s education and training on sustainability-related efforts, the SSE Academy provides the expertise and training facilitation to enable joint training together with stock exchanges. By supporting their education and training activities, the SSE looks to overcome critical barriers exchanges face and increase the number of exchanges providing sustainability-related training for their markets. The SSE Academy’s activities provide education and training that are:

  1. High quality, providing global markets with access to top experts on key sustainability topics
  2. Global, partnering with the SSE’s worldwide network of exchanges to rapidly disseminate internationally consistent knowledge
  3. Customized, locally adapted education to fit wit the unique regulatory and business context of each market
  4. Interactive, addressing the unique questions of participants to overcome barriers to advancement
  5. Accessible, disseminated as a public service, at no cost to the participant

The Progress

The SSE tracks a number of sustainability activities that can help stock exchanges promote sustainable and transparent markets. This includes exchange’s training and educational activities. Since launching the SSE Academy, stock exchange’s training activities have increased substantially, now one of the main acitivities of stock exchanges contributing to creating sustainable and transparent markets.

Exchanges training on sustainability

%

Training Modules

TCFD for banks: from climate risks to opportunities

Learning time: 4 hours live training (divided into 2 parts)

Module description: TCFD 101 is facilitated in collaboration with experts on climate-related disclosures from UNEP-FI and CDP in addition to SSE Academy expert facilitators. This training module provides financial sector organizations, with a focus on the banking sector, with an overview and examples of how the FSB’s TCFD recommendations and other key tools and resources can increase the resilience of financial sector companies. This module is broken into two parts, the first of which focuses on climate-related governance and strategy with the second part discussing managing climate-related risks and using metrics and targets. 

This training program is made possible by a grant from IFC.

TCFD 101 and 102: Getting started and building experience with climate-related financial reporting 

Learning time: 4 hours live training

Module description: TCFD 101 and 102 are both facilitated in collaboration with CDP, an expert on climate-related disclosures. These training module provides an overview of what climate-related reporting is and how companies can use the FSB’s task force on climate-related financial disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. Through evaluating examples and discussing participant’s current disclosure practices, these modules help set the foundation that participants need to start or enhance disclosure on climate-related information in financial reports. This training program was made possible by grants from IFC and Bloomberg Philanthropies. 

This training program has ended, but previous sessions can be viewed on our YouTube channel.

Reporting using the GRI Standards (being piloted)

To provide markets with high-quality training on disclosure standards, this training event was developed in collaboration with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). This training program introduces market participants to disclosing ESG information using the GRI standards. The introductory session gives an overview of the GRI standards (new universal standards and sector standards), introduces materiality and situates GRI within other frameworks. This session is suited for participants who have not yet used GRI or are beginners. The advanced session gives a brief introduction on how GRI fits with other standards and frameworks, particularly ISSB and TCFD. Furthermore, it provides an overview of the new universal standards and offers a more detailed discussion on materiality. This session is suited for participants who already use GRI.

This training is in a pilot phase. Please fill in the contact form below to be informed when training is available. 

Gender Equality (COMING SOON)

Learning time: 4 hours live training

Module Description: This two-part module was developed in collaboration with topic experts from IFC and UN Women. Training is lead by SSE Academy expert facilitators in collaboration with additional subject matter experts on investing in gender equality. Through interactive activities, examples and an overview of current practices participants will learn about the financial materiality of gender equality, gender-lens investment strategies, unconscious biases. This training looks to help organizations improve their performance as well as communication on gender equality and inclusion.  Please fill in the contact form below to be informed when training is available. 

This training program is made possible by a grant from IFC.

Aligning disclosures with the ISSB Standards

(COMING SOON)

The Trustees of the IFRS Foundation announced the formation of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) on 3 November 2021 at COP26 in Glasgow, following strong market demand for its establishment. The ISSB is developing standards that will result in a high-quality, comprehensive global baseline of sustainability disclosures focused on the needs of investors and the financial markets. The SSE Academy is working in partnership with the IFRS Foundation to provide training and education on the ISSB standards. 

Details of this training program are forthcoming. Please fill in the contact form below to be informed when training is available. 

Additional educational tools

Miss a training? Check out our YouTube Chanel for recordings

Visit our YouTube channel to view some of our recorded training sessions.

Publications and guidance documents

Don’t miss our publications and guidance documents to further support your market’s capacity building requirements. 

Contact us

The SSE Academy develops training materials that aim to support exchanges educational and training activities on sustainability-related markets. The following modules and materials are examples of topics that the SSE Academy has prepared. For more information or to inquire about training for your market, exchanges are encouraged to contact the SSE Academy team directly. If you are not an SSE Partner Exchange, please feel free to fill in the below contact form to request training, which we will take into consideration. 

Training request form

2 + 7 =

Testimonials

The TCFD Training Workshop organized by SSE and FEAS was really impressive. The course was professionally designed and very interactive with supporting questionnaires and polls. The speakers run the course very lively. I would definitely recommend this course, and not only to stock exchanges.

Dr Konstantin Saroyan, Secretary General, FEAS

The Sydney Stock Exchange was proud to have collaborated with UN SSE, IFC and CDSB, to provide training on climate-related reporting and the subject in general. The courses were professionally run with quality content and impressive facilitators. I would welcome more of these courses to be presented in the future.

Michael Go, CEO, Sydney Stock Exchange (SSX)

The Training on Climate Disclosure (TCFD training workshop) delivered by the UN SSE to the stakeholders of Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), were really excellent and the trainers were outstanding. Our participants have learned a lot on this new topic and they will benefit immensely. We hope to get more such training through the UN SSE to contribute more towards Sustainable Development in our Capital Market. We wish all the best to the UN SSE and its superbly excellent Team Members.

Md Ghulam Faruqe, Managing Director, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE)

The Prague Stock Exchange appreciated the opportunity to join the TCFD training program and provide our issuers with very complex and practical courses provided by experienced experts. Our issuers have particularly appreciated the practical focus and specific use cases that the course offers and I hope there will be more opportunities to cooperate with UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative in the future.

Petr Koblic (CEO) – Prague Stock Exchange

 Given the high-quality inputs and insights into the TCFD framework offered by the excellent trainers, the training was very well received by the participants. We therefore warmly recommend the training to other exchanges. As we are committed to supporting listed companies in sustainability reporting and to increasing transparency around ESG factors in capital markets, we are pleased that we can continue the fruitful collaboration with UN SSE and offer a GRI training program this year to our listed companies in collaboration with GRI and CDP.

Christian Reuss, Head SIX Swiss Exchange

The training provided clear, comprehensive, high-quality information on the financial risks & opportunities associated with climate change, a deep dive on the TCFD recommended disclosures and steps organizations need to take to implement the recommendations, including good practice and case studies.

Geoffrey Odundo, Chief Executive Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)

SSE Academy Partners

Training partners

The SSE Academy works with experts from its partner organizations to develop and facilitate educational materials and training

Funding partners

Need help getting started?