MSc Climate Change Finance and Investment

Dear Class of 2026/27,

I am delighted to welcome you to the MSc Climate Change Finance and Investment programme. We look forward to having you join us in Edinburgh this September.

You are joining us at an exciting, yet challenging moment for the transition to a low-GHG, climate-resilient society. We are now past the halfway point of the 'critical decade' for countries to meet our shared long-term climate goals. Enormous investment is still needed in low-carbon technologies, infrastructure, and adaptation over the coming decades. Green and sustainable finance scaled rapidly over the past ten years - but it now faces a serious test of its credibility, its political durability, and its capacity to deliver results in the real economy.

That test is precisely what makes this field so consequential. Recent years have seen prominent climate-finance coalitions scale back or disband, several major institutions step away from earlier commitments, and regulators in both the EU and the US recalibrate the pace and scope of sustainability rules. Yet the underlying need has not receded: the physical impacts of climate change are accelerating, and the capital required for the transition continues to grow. The question for our generation of finance professionals is no longer whether climate matters to markets, but who will do the rigorous, credible work of turning commitments into measurable progress - and who will be trusted to lead once the easy consensus has fallen away.

That is where you come in. The changemakers this sector needs must be genuinely fluent in climate change and sustainability - able to help society seize the opportunities, manage the risks, and give finance a clear and defensible purpose. Over the next twelve months, our aim is to equip you with the advanced knowledge and skills to do exactly that, and to take your place in the low-carbon, resilient transition under way around the world.

A central constraint on reaching the scale and quality of investment required is a shortage of professionals with the skills and knowledge in carbon investment and finance, carbon accounting, and climate policy – and the judgment to apply that expertise credibly in a contested environment. Building it is precisely why this programme was created, and we very much look forward to working with you during the year ahead, and beyond.

On these pages you will find useful information both if you will be able to join us in Edinburgh in September or will be starting your degree online and joining us later in the academic year. In both cases, the University aims to provide you with the timely and essential information you need to help make the start of the academic year a smooth one. Please take a careful look at these materials.

I look forward to meeting you in September, and in the meantime if you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch.