European Clean Transition: Policies & Finance

INSTRUCTORS

AIM

This course will look into the economic policies and financial side of the European Clean Transition. In a first lecture, we will analyse the European Union’s strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 while increasing its competitiveness and resilience in a quickly changing international environment. The change from the Green Deal to the Clean Transition will allow us to discuss the interlinkage of climate and energy policy. The second lecture dives deeper into understanding the EU policy-making: This will comprise an understanding of the policy processes (strategy development, development of EU legislation), taking energy renovation of buildings as example.

The analysis of the economic policy side quickly shows that mobilising private capital is key to a successful transformation. This is where ESG and sustainable finance come in. In the third and fourth lectures, we will focus on ESG criteria and the sustainable finance products available to provide the capital needed to support the transition to a low-carbon economy (e.g., Green bonds, Sustainability-Linked Loans/Bonds, Sustainable mutual funds/ETFs). We will also distinguish the different sustainable investment strategies and discuss the impact of sustainability on the financial performance of investment portfolios.

MAIN TOPICS

• European Green Deal & Clean Industrial Deal
• EU Policy Development
• Introduction to Sustainable Finance
• ESG Criteria and Analysis
• Financial Instruments for Sustainability
• Sustainable Investment Strategies and Financial Performance

TEACHING METHODOLOGY

Interactive lecture with case studies

DAY-BY-DAY PROGRAM

SUGGESTED REFERENCES

• European Commission (2025): Clean Industrial Deal. https://commission.europa.eu/topics/eu-competitiveness/clean-industrial-deal_en
• European Parliament (2025): Fact Sheets on the European Union. How the European Union works. Available online at https://www.europarl.europa.eu/erpl-app-public/factsheets/pdf-chapter/en/en-chapter-1.pdf 
• Ringel, M., Thompson, S. (2025): Europe’s Choice: The next stage of EU climate and energy policies. Global Social Policy, Vol. 5, Issue 1, https://doi.org/10.1177/14680181241311995.
• Roncalli, T. (2025). Handbook of Sustainable Finance. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4277875
• Silva, F., Ferreira, A., & Cortez, M. C. (2024). The performance of green bond portfolios under climate uncertainty: A comparative analysis with conventional and black bond portfolios. Research in International Business and Finance, 70, 102354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2024.102354
• Cortez, M. C., Andrade, N., & Silva, F. (2022). The environmental and financial performance of green energy investments: European evidence. Ecological Economics, 197, 107427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107427