Ireland’s first MSc Energy & Environmental Finance course was launched by UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School in a bid to ensure Ireland has the skills needed to be at the centre of financing the future green economy.
The new to market course will commence in September 2012 and is aimed at those who want to pursue a career in the energy and environmental markets sector.
The programme, which was officially launched at the offices of Accenture Ireland, is designed for graduates from a wide variety of disciplines including finance/economics, engineering, environmental science and mathematics.
The MSc has emerged from a unique collaboration of industry leaders and academics in a bid to step up the campaign to see Ireland become established as the global centre for green business, carbon management and green finance.
The course has been designed to ensure that Ireland’s industry expertise and educational system work hand in hand to create a co-ordinated approach in the bid to be the world’s green centre of excellence as well as put in place the necessary skills to service the rapidly growing green economy into the future.
Professor Ciarán ÓhÓgartaigh, Dean UCD School of Business said: “We are delighted to launch Ireland’s first MSc in Energy and Environmental Finance. This is a unique programme which encourages students to develop creative and analytical approaches to problem solving in the energy-environment sphere.
“As Ireland’s global business school we strive to actively develop expertise in relevant areas of national and international interest. In particular, we are pleased to contribute to the area of Energy and Environmental Finance as part of the Green IFSC’s strategic development.”
Padraig Rushe, Member of the Green IFSC Steering Group explained: “Ireland is in an excellent position to significantly grow its ‘green’ finance business – and particularly as the world is rapidly transitioning towards a low carbon model.
“Ireland needs to ensure it is always at the forefront of innovation in this sector and has the skills needed on hand as businesses develop. The new UCD MSc in Energy and Environmental Finance will make a significant contribution to this goal.”
Similarly, Marian Corcoran, Senior Executive Client Director with Accenture said, “As our research shows, the global transition to a low carbon economy will drive significant demand for new financing sources and financing mechanisms. Ireland is uniquely positioned to lead in the associated area of Green Finance. This is a major growth opportunity for Irish job creation and FDI for a number of reasons including emerging demand; our very strong foundation in some of the core financing skills such as asset management and project finance; our emerging cleantech industry and demand for financing mechanisms; and, finally because we are proactively developing specialised green Finance skills.
“Delivering on the Green Finance and Green IFSC opportunity will be partly predicated on having people with the right skills so we can secure investment and attract the right companies. We are delighted to support the launch of the MSc in Energy & Environmental Finance as it shows great vision and is a fine example of Industry and Academia working together proactively to be ‘ahead of the game’ and to ensure that we position Ireland to deliver on the economic opportunities offered by the Green IFSC.”
A main aim of the course is to ensure students acquire a detailed understanding of the financial processes and procedures associated with the energy and environmental markets sector as well as the knowledge and skills necessary for a career in the area of energy and environmental finance.
Modules on the course include: Markets & the Environment; Commodity Finance; Quantitative Methods; Financial Econometrics; Capital Markets and Instruments; Portfolio & Risk Management; Financial Asset Valuation; Environmental Finance; Climate Change and Energy Economics; Green Business; Energy & Environmental Finance Internship and an Energy & Environmental Finance Research Project.
