ESG Certificate Program

4.9 (6,216 Ratings)

Become an Environmental, Social, & Governance specialist with valuable skills in investing, financial and corporate strategy, and more, and earn an in-demand ESG certification program upon completion.

Skills You’ll Gain:

ESG Concepts, ESG Risks, ESG Opportunities, ESG Analysis, ESG & Business Intelligence and more

Great For:

Asset Management, Management Consulting, Business Analyst, Credit Analyst, Corporate Development, Senior Leadership and more

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For Individuals

For Teams

ESG program: 14 total courses, 11 required to earn ESG certificate
Self-paced & 100% online
Get full ESG program, community, & more with a CFI membership

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Get this program and CFI's full training catalog for your organization
Manage learning, create custom paths & measure progress
For teams of 2 or more learners

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ESG Certification Overview

CFI’s Environmental, Social, & Governance specialization teaches the essential skills required to be successful in today’s rapidly changing financial landscape.

The nature of risks and opportunities facing the business community has evolved, and operators and capital allocators alike must better understand the implications. The ESG program includes a unique combination of theory and application, delivered in a condensed, self-paced curriculum that will better prepare you for today’s corporate pressures and stakeholder expectations.

Whether you’re a research analyst, investment professional, operator, business student, or board director, holding an ESG designation will broaden your horizons and provide actionable implementation strategies for you and your firm. Learn about sustainable investing and sustainable practices and become a certified ESG specialist.

Program Overview

14 courses

10 required courses and 3 practice labs

30–35 Hours

Average completion time

Receive a Certificate

To verify your skills

500,000+ 5-star ratings

Best-in-class training, as rated by you

Earning Your ESG Certification

CFI’s curriculum includes 14 courses covering finance, reporting, investing, and business strategy. This is an ideal ESG certification for individuals looking to gain practical, real-world skills that will translate to roles at top global institutions.

Step 1.

10 Required Courses

Introduction to ESG

4.9 (823 Ratings)

50min

ESG Fundamentals

4.8 (66 Ratings)

1h 51min

ESG Disclosure

4.9 (39 Ratings)

50min

ESG Integration & Financial Analysis

4.9 (51 Ratings)

3h 15min

Greenhouse Gas Accounting

4.9 (46 Ratings)

1h 10min

Human Capital Management

4.9 (28 Ratings)

1h 3min

Professional Ethics

4.9 (5,024 Ratings)

1h 7min

Corporate Governance

5 (44 Ratings)

1h 41min

Carbon Market Fundamentals

5 (21 Ratings)

1h 13min

Introduction to Climate Risk Management

4.8 (36 Ratings)

1h 23min

ESG Risk Management

4.8 (5 Ratings)

1h 19min

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Step 2.

Practice Labs

See All Practice Labs

Why Get ESG Certified?

Specialization certificates allow narrow and deep focus on a targeted subject area, with particular attention to specific analysis techniques and actionable skills.

They are designed to deepen your industry acumen and to prepare you for faster professional growth within your sector.

Skills & Learning Objectives in ESG

ESG - The Big Picture

Describe key ESG concepts like materiality, physical climate risks, human capital management, and governance issues
Analyze ESG risks and opportunities for an organization or an industry
Differentiate between good ESG disclosure and Greenwashing, and connect ESG efforts to competitive advantages

ESG Analysis

ESG Integration

ESG Investing

ESG & Business Intelligence

Taught by Industry Experts

Noah Miller

Noah Miller is the Co-Founder and Chief Advisory Officer at Rho Impact, a North-American Based ESG advisory and software company. He has been CFI's ESG subject matter expert since 2020. Noah has held a variety of roles in the ESG space, ranging from consulting practice leader to fractional director for multiple public and private companies to a board advisor. Noah continues to serve on several corporate and nonprofit boards in an ESG advisor capacity.

Kyle Peterdy

Kyle is VP, Commercial Banking & Credit with CFI. Kyle’s background is in commercial lending, including real estate transactions and construction project financing, where he spent significant time assessing physical environmental risks.

Lisa Dorian

Lisa Dorian is Co-Founder, and formerly Chief Risk Officer and Managing Director, of CFI. As a finance executive, she gained extensive experience in governance, risk, and compliance, as well as business process and strategy.

Derek Young

Derek is a Managing Director and leads the ESG Consulting Services Practice for Summit Strategy Group. Derek has over 20 years of consulting experience in ESG, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility across both the for-profit and nonprofit sector, as well as multiple public policy roles.

Careers in ESG

Over 85% of executives, supervisors, and HR professionals agree that certified individuals bring value, gain credibility, and are seen as top performers.
* Source

Asset Management

Enhance your ability to navigate the ESG landscape in professional investment or portfolio management for institutional clients.
Management Consulting

Support clients, including private companies, public issuers, and the investment community, in implementing effective, comprehensive ESG strategies
Business Analyst

Distill complicated concepts and data to help management teams drive better performance and manage risk more effectively
Credit Analyst

Incorporate ESG considerations and analysis techniques into your assessment of a borrower’s creditworthiness
Corporate Development

Make more informed and nuanced decisions around organic and inorganic growth opportunities
Senior Leadership

Make more informed strategic decisions by understanding how ESG issues create material risks and opportunities for your business
Research

Conduct more comprehensive, ESG-integrated analysis to inform buy, hold, or sell recommendations

Our Learners Work At:

What Our Students Say

Over 75% of CFI learners report improved productivity or competency within weeks.

This particular course is very engaging and clear even for me, who have very little knowledge of finance.

Akshay Sanwal

The introductory course was very concise, detailed, and informative with relevant real world examples which significantly helped apply the concepts in assessing my own business’ footprint.

Brittian Foster

ESG specialization is highly required skills and glad CFI is solving that issue.

Chaitanya Korra

CFI’s ESG programme is a very useful tool towards mitigating contemporary challenges facing the business world.

Johnny Marudu

Displaying the varying investment strategies a ESG-observant business may pursue, along with the relative factors taken into consideration for each strategy, enabled me to understand a business’ general stance on an ESG-related concept, such as greenhouse gas emissions. The bonus content pertaining to the use of data tables to automatically generate status quo figures was an enlightening trick, even for a frequent Excel user.

Jude Baguio

The Course was very educating, precise and informative. The diagrams helped a lot in understanding the terms and concept being explained.

Juliet Nwosu

Very practical and presents the most update-to-date practice and standards in ESG disclosure over the world.

Liwei Ma

My employer had asked me to look into it to prepare an ESG initiative for our company. I was so relieved to see that CFI offered an ESG course. I was super thrilled to learn so many new skill sets and topic areas.

Olga Abinader

Great illustration of the potential for ESG to impact a business. Incorporating a holistic view to complement the initiatives proposed and sensible assumptions with a high degree of prudence as to the positive ESG impact on WACC and employee and customer behaviour.

Steve Nevin

The course really helped me in understanding the various ESG factors that may affect the decisions and have an impact on its stakeholders.

Veral Bajaj

Frequently Asked Questions

If you haven’t found your answer from our FAQ, please send us a message.

Will these courses help me advance my career?

Reviews from learners who have taken CFI courses include numerous stories about how people have been able to advance their careers. There is a proven track record of CFI graduates marking successful transitions into the careers of their dreams and this is based largely on the resources that we make available to our learners upon enrolment. Our training is designed to be fully practical and simulates the experience of being trained as a professional financial analyst. Additionally, we offer a wealth of information through our free career resources. The unique blend of all these elements is what sets us apart from other eLearning platforms when it comes to giving you all the tools you need to create a successful career in finance.

What are the admission requirements for the courses?

This specialization bundle is recommended for learners and professionals with knowledge or experience in environmental, social and governance analysis. To take the courses and complete the exercises, learners will only need access to a PC and/or Mac, Microsoft Suite (2016 or newer), and a stable internet connection.

What is the duration of the program?

It takes an average of 30-35 hours to complete the entire program. However, you are given the freedom to complete all of the training at your own pace! Please see the "Earning Your ESG Certification" section for recommended study hours for each course to give you a better idea for your time management.

How much time do I have to complete the courses?

Take as much time as you need. You will have access to all courses and all future upgrades in your subscription. You can review the video lessons as many times as you like and complete the courses at a pace that is most convenient for you. All of the required courses, resources, and assessments to obtain the certifications will be provided, for as long as your subscription is active.

How are the exams conducted?

Learners are required to complete an online assessment (MCQ's, Fill-in-the-Blanks, and Excel Questions) at the end of each course. You can take the exams at your own schedule and will need to earn at least 80% to pass the course and earn your certificate of course completion. Please note that course exams can be repeated as many times as you need.

Can I download and edit the course material and templates?

Yes! You can download the resources included in your courses. All of the files needed in a course are available for download. Please note that while our study materials can be downloaded, the lecture videos are only available online due to copyright infringement issues.

How do I earn my certificates?

You need to complete all the video lessons, quizzes, and final assessments in each course to earn your course certificates. The certificate will then be available on your learner dashboard and also emailed to you as soon as you have completed all of the requirements.

What currency are your courses priced in?

All of our online courses and programs are priced in USD.

What payment methods do you accept?

As this is a recurring payment, we accept all major credit and debit cards including Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.

Are there any additional fees or costs?

None! The program tuition includes everything and there are no additional fees required to earn your digital certification.