Dr Richard Perkins

This course is available on the BA in Geography, BSc in Accounting and Finance, BSc in Economic History and Geography, BSc in Environment and Development, BSc in Environment and Sustainable Development, BSc in Environment and Sustainable Development with Economics, BSc in Environmental Policy with Economics and BSc in Geography with Economics. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course is available to General Course students.

This course seeks to explore and critically interrogate the governance of environmental sustainability by corporate and financial actors - commonly framed in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable investment, respectively. Drawing on a range of theoretical ideas, the emphasis of the course is on providing students with an understanding of the motives, practices and outcomes of market actors’ growing involvement in sustainability. Topics covered include business ethics, strategic CSR, net zero, ESG (environmental, social and governance) data/ratings, green bonds, and greenwashing.

In the Department of Geography and Environment, teaching will be delivered through a combination of classes/seminars, pre-recorded lectures, live online lectures and other supplementary interactive live activities.

This course is delivered through weekly 2.5-hour interactive seminars across Autumn Term.

This course includes a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term.

Students will be expected to produce a formative policy brief plan in the Autumn Term.

Cato, M.S. (2022). Sustainable Finance: Using the Power of Money to Change the World. Berlin, Palgrave Macmillan/Springer Cham.

Martindale, W. (2023). Responsible Investment: An Insider's Account of What's Working, What's Not and Where Next. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan/Springer.

Rasche, A. et al. (eds.) (2023). Corporate Sustainability: Managing Responsible Business in a Globalised World. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Schoenmaker, D. and Schramade, W. (2018). Principles of Sustainable Finance. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 

Assignment (100%) in the AT.

The assignment will be a policy brief (3000 words).