MSc Sustainable Finance

Explore innovative financial instruments to support ethical and sustainable investment strategies.

Year of entry: 2025 (September)

Start date

September 2025
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Length

1 year full-time

School/department

Department of Economics and Related Studies, School for Business and Society

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This course will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of sustainable finance concepts and techniques, along with the knowledge and skills to introduce environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria into financial analysis, investment decisions, and capital allocation strategies.

Emphasis will be placed on exploring innovative financial instruments, such as green public procurement, public private partnerships, green bonds, social impact bonds, and ESG-focused funds, and evaluating their role in promoting sustainable development and value creation.

You'll also explore the renewable energy markets, including analysis of key financial instruments such as green bonds and the FTSE Environmental markets index, and to understand how fossil fuel energy markets affect the renewable energy markets. Additionally, you'll develop critical analytical skills to evaluate the impact of factors such as CO2 emission pricing and derivatives on renewable energy investments.

You'll examine the context and underlying causes of energy poverty, including socio-economic factors and access to energy resources and will analyse data on energy poverty to understand its prevalence, distribution, and impact on communities and economies.

The course includes discussion of research results and interaction with participants from international research projects funded by UKRI and the European Commission.

Pioneering academics

making groundbreaking contributions in areas including economic theory, econometrics, finance and macroeconomics.

14th in the UK

for research in Economics (the Times Higher Education's REF results, 2021).

Dedicated Facilities

You'll benefit from the University's new Trading Room to get to grips with financial markets.

Course content

This course provides key elements to working in this new exciting area of finance. Our future-orientated syllabus provides essential skills, tools and knowledge to equip you for a career now and beyond. You'll experience and learn an analytical and robust approach to decision-making with sustainability at its heart. We develop a general theoretical consideration of finance, financial institutions, markets and instruments, quantitative methods and sustainable finance in the first semester.

In the specific core modules you'll explore renewable energy markets, analysing key financial instruments such as green bonds. You'll also study how fossil fuel energy markets affect renewable energy markets and the impact of CO2 emission pricing on renewable energy instruments.

In the second semester, you'll develop applied and focused assessments of investment management and corporate finance. You have options to develop further skills to make your degree bespoke to your interests and skills.

In your final semester, you'll work on an independent research project, where you'll be supported by an academic supervisor to work on an original research topic.

Modules
Dissertation

Modules

Core modules

Option modules

You will study one option module. Examples can be found below. Some option module combinations may not be possible. The options available to you will be confirmed after you begin your course.

Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff, and in line with Department/School academic planning.

Learning outcomes

Every course at York is built on a distinctive set of learning outcomes. These will give you a clear understanding of what you will be able to accomplish at the end of the course and help you explain what you can offer employers. Our academics identify the knowledge, skills, and experiences you'll need upon graduation and then design the course to get you there.

Learning outcomes for this course

Display a systematic and critical understanding of the behaviour and operations of both financial institutions and the finance function within large organisations, the environments in which they operate, and the role of the financial sector in the wider economic system.
Display a systematic understanding of a wide range of financial instruments (including green public procurement, public private partnerships, green bonds, social impact bonds, perspectives while analysing the role of carbon efficiency in investment decisions and its impact on portfolio performance and risk management. Critically evaluate the suitability and performance of ESG investment solutions, such as S&P Carbon Efficient Indices, ESG-focused funds, renewable energy certificates (RECs), feed-in tariffs and power purchase agreements (PPAs)), the properties of the markets on which they trade, and the purposes for which they are used in practice by investment managers and non-financial organisations.
Critically evaluate how companies are managed from ESG perspectives while analysing the role of carbon efficiency in investment decisions and its impact on portfolio performance and risk management.
Utilize econometric techniques to analyse ESG-related data. Analyse data on energy poverty to understand its prevalence, distribution, and impact on communities and economies.
Exercise judgement when balancing the fiduciary duty of decision makers to maximise financial value against the ethical and sustainability goals of a wide range of organisational stakeholders.
Produce well-reasoned written communications based on analytical reasoning and supported, where necessary, by data-based evidence, and display other personal transferable skills including: the ability to work positively within a group; act inclusively within a diverse academic community; reflect on personal strengths and weaknesses; identify areas for growth in their own knowledge and practice by engaging in continuing professional development.
Formulate a financial project proposal; identify the relevant academic and practitioner literature that best inform the project; identify and obtain the most appropriate data and methodologies for undertaking the project; independently carry out the project efficiently and to deadline; and effectively communicate results in a way that will persuade both expert and non-expert audiences.

Fees and funding

Annual tuition fees for 2025/26

Study mode	UK (home)	International and EU
Full-time (1 year)	£16,810	£33,700

Students on a Student Visa are not currently permitted to study part-time at York.

Fees information

UK (home) or international fees? The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.

Find out more information about tuition fees and how to pay them.

Postgraduate taught fees and expenses

Funding information

Discover your funding options to help with tuition fees and living costs.

We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2025/26 throughout the year.

If you've successfully completed an undergraduate degree at York you could be eligible for a 10% Masters fee discount.

Funding opportunities

Chevening Scholarships

We are pleased to work with Chevening Scholars to offer funding for our Masters programmes. Chevening Scholarships provide one year of fully-funded postgraduate study in the UK for international (including EU) students. The scholarships are open to early and mid-career professionals who have the potential to become future leaders.

Living costs

You can use our living costs guide to help plan your budget. It covers additional costs that are not included in your tuition fee such as expenses for accommodation and study materials.

Teaching and assessment

You’ll work with world‐leading academics who’ll challenge you to think independently and excel in all that you do. Our approach to teaching will provide you with the knowledge, opportunities, and support you need to grow and succeed in a global workplace.

Teaching format

This Masters combines a variety of different teaching methods, including:

lectures
seminars
problem-solving classes
practical computer-based sessions.

A member of the teaching staff will act as your supervisor throughout the degree, to help guide your studies and monitor progress.

The department also has a vibrant research community. You’ll be able to attend seminars and research workshops in which staff and invited speakers discuss their research.

Teaching location

You'll be based in the Department of Economics and Related Studies on Campus West. Most of your teaching will take place in Alcuin College and elsewhere on Campus West.

You'll gain access to our schools' and departments' shared resources and financial databases, including:

About our campus

Our beautiful green campus offers a student-friendly setting in which to live and study, within easy reach of the action in the city centre. It's easy to get around campus - everything is within walking or pedalling distance, or you can always use the fast and frequent bus service.

Assessment and feedback

Formal types of assessment in this course include:

Exams
Group project
Seminar presentation
Essays

As you study modules you’ll take part in assessments that do not contribute to your final mark, instead giving useful feedback on your progress and understanding.

Careers and skills

This course provides the solid foundations required for building a future career in finance. It will provide you with the essential postgraduate skills you need to follow a career in sustainable finance in both private and public institutions. This course will help build your qualifications for a career in sustainable finance, financial advice, financial management and also acts as an ideal basis for progression to a PhD. It can act as a stepping stone to a financial position in, for example, financial analysis, investment management, corporate finance and as energy analysts, portfolio managers, risk managers, renewable energy consultants.

Career opportunities

Financial analyst
Investment manager
Energy analyst
Portfolio manager
Risk manager
Renewable energy consultant

Transferable skills

Independent working
Critical problem-solving
Time management and people skills
Communicating research
Performing statistical analysis
Analytical and technical research skills.

Entry requirements

Qualification	Typical offer
Undergraduate degree	2:2 or equivalent in an undergraduate degree in any subject. We would expect applicants to have experience of one or more modules containing some statistics/maths/economics/finance/physics/engineering content.
Other international qualifications	Equivalent qualifications from your country

English language

If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:

Qualification	Minimum requirement
IELTS (Academic and Indicator)	6.5, minimum 6.0 in each component
Cambridge CEFR	B2 First: 176, with 169 in each component
Oxford ELLT	7, minimum of 6 in each component
Oxford Test of English Advanced	136, minimum 126 in each component
Duolingo	120, minimum 105 in all other components
LanguageCert SELT	B2 with 33/50 in each component
LanguageCert Academic	70 with a minimum of 65 in each component
Kaplan Test of English Language	478-509, with 444-477 in all other components
Skills for English	B2: Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in each component
PTE Academic	61, minimum 55 in each component
TOEFL	87, minimum of 21 in each component
Trinity ISE III	Merit in all requirements

For more information see our postgraduate English language requirements.

If you haven't met our English language requirements

You may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.

The length of course you need to take depends on your current English language test scores and how much you need to improve to reach our English language requirements.

After you've accepted your offer to study at York, we'll confirm which pre-sessional course you should apply to via You@York.

Applying

You can apply and send all your documentation online. You don’t need to complete your application all at once: you can start it, save it and finish it later.