Centre for Sustainable Finance

The SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance aims to advance the transition to an equitable, low-carbon economy by providing a forum for interdisciplinary research and teaching on sustainable finance and investment.

Located in the SOAS Department of Economics, it seeks to enhance the knowledge and understanding of sustainable finance in both the Global North and South and act as a focal point for policy debates in this area. The centre’s research and policy work addresses pressing issues including:

• green financial governance
• the impact of climate risks on public and corporate finances
• the scaling up of low-carbon and resilient investment in vulnerable countries
• climate risk insurance
• mobilising financing for the Sustainable Development Goals
• inclusive green finance
• low-carbon innovation policy and renewable energy investments
• the role of public financial institutions in advancing the green transition

Researchers at the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance are working with national and international partners, with funding from different institutions, including the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the United Nations Environmental Programme, the MAVA Foundation, the ClimateWorks Foundation, the European Climate Foundation, the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, and the World Resources Institute.

The centre is runs an annual ‘Summer School on Sustainable Finance and Climate Change’ and a master’s course on ‘Green Finance’. Centre staff have convened major capacity building and executive training programmes in sustainable finance and climate risk for numerous central banks and commercial financial institutions. Centre staff have also convened courses in climate negotiations, and climate and sustainable finance for the UK FCDO and the UK Cabinet Office.

Researchers at the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance are working with national and
international partners on a range of topics, with funding from different institutions.

The centre’s research is built around five research areas:

• Low-carbon innovation policy and renewable energy investments 
• Role of central banks and financial governance in addressing climate and
  environmental risks and greening the financial system
• Climate vulnerability and the cost of capital
• Investing in resilience
• The role of public financial institutions in financing the green transformation

The centre is part of the Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investment, a network of leading research universities, as well as the International Network for Sustainable Financial Policy Insights, Research, and Exchange, a global research network that feeds into the work of the Network of Central Banks and Financial Supervisors for Greening the Financial System.

It is also a knowledge partner of the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership and the Asia Sustainable Finance Initiative, and host to the Sustainable Finance Data Initiative, an innovative new venture gathering data on inflows and outflows of climate and sustainable finance in developing and transition economies.