Business School New Programme Proposal
MSc in Carbon Finance
(1) New Programme
Name
What is the core vision of this
programme (100 words)?
MSc in Carbon Finance
Our vision is to create the world’s first dedicated
postgraduate education programme for professionals in the
emerging trillion-dollar carbon market and climate change
investment field.1 Graduates from the programme will be
equipped to go into a number of roles in the low-carbon
sector including carbon credit origination, development and
commercialisation, consulting, carbon accounting and
related roles. The programme will sit alongside and
complement the existing MSc in Carbon Management,
which equips graduates for operational and general
management roles in the sector. Together, the two
programmes will consolidate the Business School’s
leadership position in business and climate change
education.
What are the differentiations with the
existing School portfolio
The new programme can be differentiated from the existing
MSc in Carbon Management (which is more generalist and
operational, placing less emphasis on the finance and
accounting side of carbon management) and the MSc in
Accounting and Finance and MSc in Finance and
Investment (which are aimed at graduates interested in
academic or applied careers in finance, accounting and
portfolio management, without any climate change specific
elements). It is uniquely different from each in so far as it
focuses on the business opportunities and financial flows
driven by society’s response to climate change (carbon
finance).
What are the synergies with the existing
School portfolio
The first semester Carbon Markets course will be based on
(and may replace) an existing 10-credit second semester
course taken by 48 MSc Carbon Management and MBA
students in 2010. The programme will also make use of the
well established and regarded Statistics for Finance course,
which is shared with the MSc in Accounting and Finance
and MSc in Finance and Investment.
Second semester courses in Carbon Accounting and
Emission Reduction Project Development are likely to be
attractive to MBAs and MSc Carbon Management students,
respectively, and the latter at least would almost certainly be
viable on the basis of MSc Carbon Management demand
alone. The second semester course Investment in a Low
Carbon Economy will draw on the existing curriculum of the
Chevening Programme in Finance and Investment in a Low
1
The carbon market more than doubled in size every year to 2008 and is projected to reach US$1.4 trillion
by 2020 (Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2010).
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Carbon Economy, as well as serving as the backbone of that
course in future (likewise being viable on that basis alone).
The new 15-credit Carbon Consulting Project will have
synergies with the existing work placement schemes
associated with the Chevening Programme on Finance and
Investment in a Low Carbon Economy and the MBA
programme.
There are synergies in terms of alumni and careers services
between the MSc in Carbon Management and the proposed
new MSc. Work is underway to develop a new professional
body for carbon professionals, which would cater to the
interests of alumni of both programmes.
Structure of programme
Sept-Sept, full-time
The proposed new MSc in Carbon Finance will combine
core courses in energy finance and carbon markets with an
understanding of the science, politics and economics of
climate change mitigation and adaptation, and a research
methods in statistics for finance.
In the second semester, students will move on to the
opportunities in climate investment that are not likely to be
driven by carbon markets alone. They will also study carbon
accounting (management accounting for carbon at different
levels, auditing, disclosure, reporting and benchmarking
performance). They will apply their new skills to a group
work placement/consulting project and develop new skills in
emission reduction project development, or other area
through an alternative option choice.
Programme outline
First semester core courses:
Climate Change Science and Policy (15 credits) – course
provided by Geosciences, with inputs from Law and the
Business School
Carbon Markets (15 credits) – new, based on existing
course
Energy Finance (15 credits) – new, based on existing course
P01908 Statistics for Finance (15 credits) – existing
Second semester core courses:
Investment in a Low Carbon Economy (15 credits) – new,
based on and shared with Chevening Programme
Carbon Accounting (15 credits) – new, shared with MBA
Carbon Consulting Project (15 credits) – new
Plus any ONE of the following Optional Modules (totalling
15 credits):
Emission Reduction Project Development – (15 credits) –
new, shared with MSc in Carbon Management
Green Entrepreneurship (15 credits) – will be running from
2010/11
P02931 Africa: Land of Entrepreneurial and Business
Opportunity (15 credits) – existing
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P00236 Research Methods in Finance and Investment (15
credits) – existing
P01750 Public Sector Financial Management (15 credits) –
existing
Summer term:
Dissertation (60 credits)
Total: 185 credits
For further detail on courses please see Attachment B:
Curriculum.
Example learner pathways
The typical applicant will have 2+ years work experience,
perhaps in a related area but without having had a great
opportunity to specialise in climate change, and will be
wanting to move into careers in the carbon markets or in
climate change investment, consulting or carbon accounting.
They will not necessarily know exactly which part of the
carbon market they would like to work in, at the outset.
Graduates from the programme are likely to be employed as:
-carbon credit originator, developer or commercialisation
manager in a carbon credit project developer company (e.g.
JP Morgan Climate Care, Climate Change Capital,
EcoSecurities, Camco International, Trading Emissions)
-carbon trader, analyst or asset manager in a major bank
(e.g. Barclays Capital, Goldman Sachs, Fortis, Rabobank)
-carbon accountant or carbon footprinting specialist within a
‘Big Four’ accountancy firm (PwC, KPMG, Deloitte, E&Y)
-carbon consultant in a management consulting company
(McKinsey, Bain, Booz etc) or environmental/engineering
consultancy (ERM, Mott MacDonald)
-civil servant in a department dealing with carbon market
policy, climate investment or business support (e.g. DECC,
Treasury or Carbon Trust in the UK, energy and finance
departments more generally, including in developing
countries)
-carbon entrepreneur (e.g. Ecometrica, ENDS Carbon)
Total credits
Proposed (EU non-EU) price
180
£17,745 (feespine point 9 assuming 5% increase on 2010/11
level). This is one point above where the MSc in Carbon
Management is expected to be at that time, reflecting the
higher salaries paid for jobs in carbon finance as opposed to
carbon management. It is proposed that a number of
bursaries will be offered to provide greater access to the
programme.
Who is the proposed Programme
Director?
Francisco Ascui. The programme will benefit from his 12
years’ experience in climate change policy and carbon
markets, his practitioner experience and extensive network
of contacts in the carbon finance world.
The programme will also benefit from inputs from Craig
Mackenzie in an advisory role, as well as a management
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team including Gavin Kretzschmar, Lise Tole, Sarah Ivory
and Lucia Lavric.
Examples of executive education that
might be associated with programme
The course in Investment in a Low Carbon Economy is
based on an existing executive education programme. By
formalising this as a defined 15-credit course, it will be
easier to offer to other executive education clients, for
example as an in-house intensive.
The new courses in Energy Finance, Carbon Markets,
Carbon Accounting and Emission Reduction Project
Development will all include content that may be adaptable
for executive education. The possibility for collaboration on
carbon accounting exec ed has been discussed with ACCA.
ACCA’s website notes: “"In the future, it will be the role of
accountants to represent carbon-related actions in financial
accounting terms in the annual reporting process. The
profession’s leading global bodies are currently working on
accounting standards for carbon emission reporting. In less
than a decade, most countries will be included in the round
of global carbon-reporting regimes currently being
developed by regulators and increasingly demanded by the
financial markets. Increasingly, ACCA members will need
to understand what is happening globally in order to report
emissions, monitor reductions or increases, and purchase or
sell carbon offsets under emerging trading regimes. ACCA
members will need to understand how the carbon crisis will
affect businesses, and whether there are investment
opportunities to exploit.”
(2) Programme development
Current development stage
Development necessary before launch
Proposal
PGBoS meeting 31 March 2010
Submit package to College PGBoS 21 April 2010
College PGBoS meeting 5 May 2010
Commence marketing Sept 2010 for September 2011 start
date.
People engaged in development
Francisco Ascui, Gavin Kretzschmar and Craig Mackenzie
with advice from Pauline Weetman, Maria Michou, Seth
Armitage, Bill Rees, Irvine Lapsley, Falconer Mitchell and
others.
How will you ensure that this
programme is at our expected quality?
All new courses will go through the usual QA process.
Internal review has been carried out at group level and
Business School Executive Team level and an external
review has been carried out by Dr John Boardman, the
founding Director of the University of Oxford’s MSc in
Environmental Change and Management, a pioneering
degree in the field and one of the most highly respected MSc
programmes in the UK (Oxford’s most highly oversubscribed MSc programme).
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What elements in your programme are
innovative in quality, pedagogics or
outcomes?
The programme will be one of the first in the world to
provide a serious, in-depth account of the emerging fields of
carbon finance, low-carbon investment and carbon
accounting, and to combine this with energy finance, rather
than as an element of a more generalist degree programme.
There will also be a strong emphasis on enhancing the
learner experience through work placements. A work
placement Carbon Consulting Project will be an integral part
of the course. In addition, students will have the opportunity
to draw on staff contacts in carbon and energy
finance/accounting organisations based in London, Oxford
and Edinburgh, as well as internationally (e.g. Bonn,
Copenhagen, Sydney, Istanbul, Almaty), some of which may
be willing to host students for summer internships or provide
other support for dissertations.
Have you discussed the programme with
appropriate Heads of Group?
(3) Programme market
How would you characterise the typical
student on your programme?
This proposal is fully supported by the Business and Climate
Change group. It has also been discussed widely with
members of the Accounting and Finance group and
approved by the Head of Accounting and Finance.
We expect roughly equal numbers of applicants from the
three main geographic markets: UK/EU, USA/Canada and
the BRIC economies. The typical student should have a
good first degree (2.1 or better) in business, economics, or a
social or physical science. Candidates with a first degree in a
different area may be considered subject to some evidence
of mathematical ability. All candidates should demonstrate a
strong interest in the subject.
It is expected that applicants will have 2+ years of work
experience, perhaps in a related area, and will be wanting to
move into careers in the carbon markets or in corporate
carbon management, finance or accounting. Students
without the requisite work experience may be considered if
they demonstrate an exceptional academic record and strong
evidence of commitment to the subject, e.g. through
dissertations, voluntary projects, internships etc.
English language requirements: IELTS: 7.0 or TOEFL: 250.
What are the main market(s) your
programme will recruit from?
Demand for specialist skills in carbon finance is growing
rapidly. A 2008 survey (GHG Management Institute, 2009)
of 719 key international industry professionals, scientists,
and organisational leaders throughout public, private and
non-profit sectors in every major economy found that:
 There is a severe current and projected future
shortage of qualified greenhouse gas staff and
experts (84% of respondents) at mid-level (25.6%),
project management level (33.8%) and expert level
(58.1%);
 The industry will at least double in size over the next
5 years (89%);
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

Carbon will be traded at volumes equivalent to or
greater than other commodities such as steel or coal
(65%); and
Universities are not adequately training new
graduates with greenhouse gas accounting and
management skills (82%).
There are three major geographic markets for MSc-level
training in carbon finance: UK/EU, USA/Canada and the
BRIC economies. The UK is currently the global hub of the
carbon market, and the EU Emissions Trading System is the
largest trading scheme currently in existence. Currently, it is
estimated that 21,766 people are employed in carbon finance
in the UK (data for 2007/08 from Innovas, 2009). This is
projected to increase by 58% to 35,400 by 2014/15 (Innovas,
2009). This is taking a very narrow view of the potential job
market for graduates from the proposed programme: the
UK’s Low Carbon Transition Plan (DECC, 2009) envisages
the creation of 1.2 million ‘green jobs’ in the climate change
and energy sector by 2020, and notes that low carbon sector
skills will feature prominently in a long-term active skills
strategy that will be published later in 2009.
North America has lagged behind Europe on carbon trading
until now, but with the passage through the US House of
Representatives in June 2009 of the American Clean Energy
and Security Act, the creation of a US national emissions
trading scheme has come a step closer.
China and India currently dominate the Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) market, with over 1,100 emission
reduction projects currently under development in these two
countries alone. In China, green venture capital has more
than doubled to 19% of total investment in recent years
(GHG Management Institute, 2009).
In summary, it is expected that >50% of candidates will be
from outside the UK. The UK is internationally recognised
as the pre-eminent international trading centre of the carbon
markets, and this will help to attract students from many
different countries, including the USA, Canada and
Australia, as the reality of participating in the carbon
markets draws nearer. Applicants are also expected from
emerging markets and developing countries which are major
recipients of carbon financing, including Russia, China,
India, Brazil and Mexico.
Market testing (via International Office agents) in July/Aug
2009 indicated likely interest from the following countries:
Canada, USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, UAE, India,
Russia and China.
What additional markets might the
programme seek to recruit in over time?
The possibility of enrolling the programme in future with the
CFA, ACCA, ICAEW or other similar professional bodies
will be explored (initial steps have already been taken in
relation to ICAEW and ACCA).
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The possibility of offering the course (or a variation thereof)
by distance learning in future will be explored in future
(particularly aimed at participants from developing
countries). It is proposed that this would be explored only
once the full-time residential programme is well established
(e.g. 2-3 years track record).
What levels of recruitment do you expect
in years 1, 2 and 3.
Year 1
Pessimistic: 15
Most likely: 20
Optimistic: 30
Year 2
20
30
40
Year 3
25
40
55
Year 4
30
50
70
See attached financial model printouts (3 pages) for the
financial implications of these numbers.
(4) Route to market
When do you propose to launch the
programme?
What are the key points and dates in your
marketing strategy?
What do you estimate will be the cost of
initially marketing the programme?
(5) Programme partners
Do you have development partners
outside of School? – their role and any
costs to School?
What is their role in the programme
development, launch and delivery?
Details of external compliance e.g. for
accreditation?
Details of alignment/synergy with
programmes external to the School?
(6) Programme competition
If there are no competitor programmes,
why do you think this is?
Sept 2010, for September 2011 intake
Launch (website, brochure) Sept 2010
Outreach Sept 2010-April 2011
Closing date for applications end June 2011
Offers sent out on rolling basis
£25k
The School of Geosciences will provide one 15-credit
course. ACCA and CMIA possible partners – to be explored
in future.
Advisory only.
N/A at present, may apply in future if ACCA or similar
accreditation is sought.
The programme would form another important contribution
from the School to the proposed Edinburgh Centre for
Climate Change.
The carbon markets have grown from virtually nothing
before 2005 to an estimated value of US$125 billion in
2009. It has been estimated that the carbon markets will be
worth US$1.4 trillion by 2020. At the same time, average
new additional low-carbon investment of around US$500
billion/year is expected in the energy sector alone (IEA,
2009). The explosion of carbon finance and investment has
created a range of new types of business and new
professional careers within both new and existing
businesses. This in turn creates a huge training and
educational need, which is currently being met with internal
training (within companies involved in the carbon markets),
some independent professional education, and, to a limited
extent, with small additions to courses on existing academic
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programmes. The primary reason there are no competitor
programmes is that the demand is recent and academic
institutions take time to react.
Who currently runs a similar
programme?
There are currently no truly similar programmes on offer in
the UK, or, as far as we can determine, worldwide. The UK
is by far the leading international centre for the carbon
markets, so specialist courses are most likely to appear in the
UK first.
UEA offers an MBA in Strategic Carbon Management,
which includes a single course on environmental accounting
and finance. The cost of the MBA is £15,000.
LBS in association with PointCarbon (a specialised carbon
market news and analytics provider) started running (in May
2009) a Carbon Finance and Analytics exec ed programme
(10 days, cost €12,500). It is possible that they might also
have a similar Masters-level programme under development.
See Attachment A for more information on programme
competition.
How is your programme differentiated?
Compared with existing courses available today, the new
programme would be unique in providing in-depth specialist
training in carbon finance and accounting, suitable for
graduates or early-career professionals seeking a career in
the carbon markets.
Feedback from employers (late 2009) is that graduates with
environmental or climate-related postgraduate degrees are
becoming commonplace, and these degree programmes are
all too generic and shallow in any given area. The proposed
programme would offer far more depth in carbon finance
than any other postgraduate product currently in the UK
market.
Do you know what competitor
programmes cost?
See above – from €12,500 for a 10-day exec ed course to
€15,000 for a 12-month MBA (2009 prices).
Do you know how many students
competitor programmes recruit?
Who currently runs the closest
competitive programme?
Are you aware of other organisations
intending to enter the market with similar
programmes?
8-50 per programme
(7) Programme synergies
What credits will the new product create
and how are these distributed?
As above, LBS, but it is currently only at exec ed level.
No data available.
The programme will create 15 new credits in Energy
Finance, which will be managed by the Accounting and
Finance group. The other new courses (75 credits) will be
managed by the Business and Climate Change group, with
inputs from Accounting and Finance. All of these credits are
within the Business School. A further core course is being
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developed independently of this programme by Geosciences,
with input from Law and the Business School.
In terms of credits, what parts of the new
programme outcomes require new
teaching?
Semester 1: 30 credits (Energy Finance and Carbon
Markets). Both of these courses are largely based on existing
content.
Semester 2: 60 credits. However, Investment in a Low
Carbon Economy is based on the existing Chevening
Programme; Carbon Accounting would also be offered to
MBAs and Emission Reduction Project Development would
also be offered to MSc in Carbon Management.
Are there any particular resources the
programme requires (labs, software,
CPD activities, internships etc)?
(8) Programme sustainability and risk
Why should the School invest in this
programme?
None apart from the usual resources provided by the
Business School. The programme will benefit from making
use of relationships with local businesses (climate change
entrepreneurs such as Ecometrica and ENDS Carbon as well
as larger businesses such as KPMG, RBS, Lloyds etc) to
host dissertations and Carbon Consulting Projects.
The programme will substantially add to the School’s
reputation as a leader in business and climate change
education. The School has an opportunity to be a first mover
if it establishes this programme in 2011.
It will complement rather than compete with the existing
MSc in Carbon Management, and together the two courses
will create an influential alumni community in business and
climate change.
It will be a premium programme which should be able to
support a premium fee. This will help to compensate for
likely lower numbers of subscribers in earlier years.
However, the market is projected to at very least double in
size over the next 5 years (feedback from an employer was
that they saw potential for an 8-fold increase in their carbon
finance business over the next 4 years). This should equate
to increasing demand and increasing profitability over time.
It will help to stimulate further research in business and
climate change, by establishing a pool of potential PhD
researchers and helping to attract other academics to the
School.
It will establish a solid teaching resource from which
additional exec ed programmes can be developed.
It will help to strengthen links with carbon market
participants and professional institutions such as ACCA,
ICAEW and CFA, which will in turn enhance the brand.
What are the risks of investing in this
programme?
The programme may be too far ahead of its time, resulting in
it being under-subscribed and unprofitable. This risk can
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only be mitigated to a limited extent, by undertaking due
diligence on the potential market. This has been done to the
extent possible, including international enquiries made via
the International Office and Careers Office. The response on
the student demand side has been positive from countries
including Canada, USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, UAE,
India, Russia and China; however, without a high degree of
certainty due to the unique nature of the programme. The
response on the employer demand side has been extremely
positive, with one employer already expressing an interest in
partnering with such a programme.
It may poach applicants from the MSc in Carbon
Management, reducing overall income. This risk is mitigated
by differentiation between the two programmes and the fact
that the MSc in Carbon Management is currently well
oversubscribed. There will inevitably be some competition
between the two programmes, but in a market that is
expected to grow consistently, this should be manageable
and should lead to healthy competition in quality of delivery.
The rapidly changing nature of the carbon markets means
that material will need to be constantly updated in order to
remain current and relevant to students’ needs. This is
unfortunately true of any attempt to teach in this area. It is
mitigated by the close contacts that staff in the Centre for
Business and Climate Change have with policy-makers and
industry leaders in the sector, as well as past experience
with the sector.
How will the launch of this programme
enhance the reputation of the School?
The School’s reputation will be enhanced if it is a first
mover in this area, with a high-quality product that wins
international recognition. The new programme capitalises on
existing strengths in finance and accounting and its growing
reputation in business and climate change.
At present, only LBS and UEA have staked a comparable
claim in this area of convergence between climate change
management and ‘hard’ finance and accounting. Judge and
Said Business Schools also each have several climate
change experts within the business school and very strong
climate change expertise elsewhere in the university which
they could draw upon to make a similar move. If the School
is successful in establishing a programme that is compared
to similar offerings from this group of business schools that
will be a very good outcome.
The School has already begun to establish this reputation
with the MSc in Carbon Management, MBA and MSc
courses on business and climate change, and the Chevening
Programme on Finance and Investment for a Low Carbon
Economy. Taken together with these existing offerings, the
new programme will add greater substance to the School’s
claim to leadership in business and climate change. The
creation of an active and influential alumni community,
combining MSc Carbon Management, the Chevening
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Programme and the new programme, will also greatly
enhance the School’s brand in this area over time.
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