Finance is essential for sustainable development. To meet the sustainable development goals  (SDGs) financial resources from the public as well as the private sector will have to be harnessed in both advanced and emerging economies. The ratification of the Paris Agreement on mitigating global warming in 2016 and the adoption of Green New-Deal COVID-19 recovery packages cement the relationship between sustainable finance and development. Regulators will increasingly incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting requirements for products and firms. International organisations such as the IMF, World Bank, the World Economic Forum, OECD as well as the European Commission are advocating, promoting, and researching financial inclusion. Fintech is creating opportunities for new financial intermediaries and instruments that could reach every household around the globe.

The rapid transformation of the financial sector with an emphasis on environmental sustainability, social responsibility, inclusion, and impact measurement creates exciting new career opportunities. Asset managers, bankers, analysts, and consultants in this new financial world need in-depth expertise in the interaction between development, sustainability, impact evaluation, and finance.

To meet the growing demands of financial institutions - private, public, and international - and the interest of students who want to make a positive impact on world development, the Graduate Institute is launching a new track in Sustainable Finance and Development within its Master in International Economics, starting in September 2021.

If you are interested in a career in development finance, impact investing, or sustainable finance and want to promote inclusive growth through employment in the financial sector, international, governmental organization, or NGO's, then this programme is for you.

The new specialization builds on the strengths of our master's programme of International Economics and will provide students with strong analytical and rigorous empirical tools. The new specialization will include a dedicated introductory and integrative course taught by Prof. Nathan Sussman, Director of the Centre for Finance and Development, and a course on Sustainable finance and impact investing offered by Prof. Beatrice Weder di Mauro, the President of CEPR. The programme offers electives that include a course offered by industry practitioners, courses such as Development Economics, Big Data, Fintech, and Digital Finance, Global Virtual Workshop on Fintech and Digital Economy, International Finance, Managing Capital Flows, Impact Evaluation, and more.

The programme will be closely associated with the Centre for Finance and Development (CFD) that is supported by the Pictet Foundation, and serves as a leading international and interdisciplinary exchange platform in finance and development-related topics.

Geneva is a global hub for sustainable finance. It hosts a vibrant ecosystem of impact and sustainable investment. It is the home of many international organizations, including UNCTAD and is uniquely positioned to address the urgent challenges crystallized around the UN’s 17 SDGs, which today serve, among others, as the basis for a fair allocation of financial resources worldwide. The Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies is an institution of research and higher education dedicated to studying world affairs, with a particular emphasis on the cross-cutting fields of international relations and development issues.

For more information on the programme, please contact Professor Nathan Sussman (nathan.sussman@graduateinstitute.ch)