What sustainable finance and ESG mean

Module 01 / 5 · 45 min · Free preview

Learn the language of sustainable finance, ESG, E&S risk, the SDGs and double materiality, and why it makes business sense for an Ethiopian bank.

In this module you will learn to

Define sustainable finance, ESG and environmental and social (E&S) risk in plain words
Explain double materiality: how the world affects the bank and how the bank affects the world
Link bank lending to the Sustainable Development Goals and Ethiopia's green strategies
Make the business case for E&S risk management in Birr terms

Built on

Erudite Africa course specification: 4.d Sustainable Finance and ESG, Level 1 Beginner (October 2026)
Erudite Africa: Ethiopian Context program overview and regulatory register (October 2026)
NBE directives as listed in the lessons: SBB/90/2024 and SBB/91/2024; Environmental Impact Assessment Proclamation No. 299/2002
A commercial bank's Revised Credit Procedure Manual (2025), unnamed
World Bank Group: Ethiopia Country Climate and Development Report (2024) and Making Ethiopia's Financial Sector Work for Women (2024)
International frameworks: UNEP FI Principles for Responsible Banking, IFC Performance Standards and exclusion list, ICMA Green Bond Principles, Basel Committee climate risk principles

Examples and organizations are fictional. Apply your own organization's approved policies.