LEED Green Associate Overview

Detailed Updates For the 2024 Certificate in ESG Investing Curriculum

Below are summaries of what candidates are expected to know for each topic area and what has been updated in the latest version of the ESG curriculum.

Topic 1: Introduction to ESG Investing

The Introduction to ESG Investing topic tests candidates’ understanding of responsible investing and ESG factors within sustainable investing.

In this topic area candidates will have 8 new self-practice questions to use as well as new content about:

• Blackrock’s implementation of 2020 ESG commitments
• The percentage of the world’s largest corporations who signed the Paris Agreement
• A case study about a Brazilian water depletion case
• New costs for corporate issuers and institutional investors for climate-related disclosures and reporting
• Updates on the growth of new PRI signatories
• The recognition of the launch of ISSB reporting standards for 2024

There was also some content that was removed in this topic area including:

• Exhibit 3 – Guide to ESG reporting that was simplistic and duplicitous
• Exhibit 5 illustrative/hypothetical example of benchmarking that was poorly constructed by MSCI
• A Coca-Cola water depletion case study example from 2004
• A 2014 study analyzing data from the global climate database provided by CDP
• The quote “estimated that companies experience an average internal rate of return of 27%80% on their low-carbon investments”
• A 2014 reference to Walmart increasing their fleet efficiency by 87%
• Greenwashing references as there is new content in other chapters
• An explanation of what a meta-analysis is

Topic 2: The ESG Market

The ESG market topic tests candidates’ understanding of the ESG market in terms of

• Relevance
• Size
• Scope
• Key drivers
• Challenges
• Risks and opportunities

In this topic area candidates will have 7 new self-practice questions to use as well as new content including:

• A revised HSBC case study with their greenhouse gas reduction targets
• Information about how UK university endowment funds are banning fossil fuel investments
• Revised fund flow data in US
• New EU and UK examples of corporate disclosure guidelines and requirements
• New examples of Investor protection regulations account for sustainability
• New overviews of TCFD, ISSB, CSRD, SFDR, MiFID and other global regulatory initiatives
• New overview of UK’s Ten Point plan and TCFD-aligned disclosures and Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR)
• Common Ground Taxonomy (CGT) published by EU and People’s Bank of China
• Singapore Green Finance Action Plan and Green Finance Industry Taskforce
• ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance framework
• Australia – Council of Financial Regulators (CFR) measures
• New Zealand – Financial Sector (Climate-related Disclosures and Other Matters) Amendment Bill
• US – ERISA approving ESG considerations by fiduciaries 
  

Below is a summary of the content that was removed from this topic area:

• LOS 2.1.1 which asked candidates to explain the history of ESG Investing
• The entire 2nd section which was about the history of ESG Investing
• The 2015 survey from PRI about investment mandate clauses
• The case study of Insurer (Munich RE) with 2007 citations
• The shortened EU , USA case study
• Article 173 of French Energy Transition Law

Topic 3: Environmental Factors

The environmental factors topic tests candidates’ understanding of

• Environmental factors
• Systemic relationships
• Material impacts
• Megatrends
• Approaches to environmental analysis at the country, sector, and company levels.

In this topic area candidates will have 7 new self-practice questions to use as well as new content including:

• A rewritten LOS (3.1.1) including the explanation on the crossing of planetary boundaries concerning
• climate change, GHG emissions, Climate Sensitivity, Transient Climate response, Carbon budgets, fresh content in depletion of natural resources, biodiversity
• A new LOS (3.1.7) which asks candidates to describe and explain key methodologies that apply to biodiversity and its valuation, risk management, and interconnectedness with environmental factors and nature-related risks
• A new IPCC graphic – Human activities are responsible for global warming.
• A new IPCC graphic – Emissions Reductions needed to limit global warming to various temperatures.
• A new case study on climate scenarios – Business as usual
• A new graphic on main candidates for Tipping elements
• A new graphic on scaling up climate action
• A revised graphic on projections of GHG emissions under various scenarios up to 2050 and indications of emissions gaps & global warming implications.
• A new graphic on change in CO2 emissions per capita.
• The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
• The Net-Zero Industry Act and the Green Deal Industrial Plan
• A new case study -The “Just Transition’ -Sustainability in Society
• The TNFD: LEAP assessment framework and additional info on disclosure framework approach
• A new graphic – IRA : Energy funding by theme and source.
• A new graphic – Price evolution in selected ETSs
• A new graphic on Scope 1,2,3 emissions • Graphic -Temperature alignment -Key design judgments in alignment methodologies.
• A new graphic- Global Investment in energy transition by sector
• A new case study – But what if your Electric Vehicle is coal-powered.
• A new case study enhancement – What is “Green”?
• A new graphic – Emissions of selected energy technologies

There was also quite a bit of information removed from this topic area including:

• The superfluous content on economic activities & ecosystems from 3.1.1
• The graphic on GHG emission by economic sectors • Case study – Race to net zero – shortened
• The graphic on the green recovery
• The graphic on the circular economy in detail
• The graphic on clean energy technology’s level of readiness & applicability in various sectors
• The graphic on EV adjustment for physical climate risk by industry
• The graphic on the systemic relationship between a company’s value chain and impact on its financial performance caused by a change in weather conditions.
• The graphic on investor framework for climate-related scenario analysis

Topic 4: Social Factors

The social factors topic tests candidates’ understanding of

• Social factors
• System relationships
• Material impacts and approaches to social analysis at the country, sector, and company levels

In this topic area candidates will have 15 new self-practice questions to use as well as

• A new section on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and reference to the CFA Institute DEI Code
• A new reference to the importance of DEI strategies as part of human capital management strategies

Topic 5: Governance Factors

The governance factors topic tests candidates’ understanding of

• Governance factors
• Key characteristics
• Main models and material impacts

In this topic area candidates will have 14 new self-practice questions to use as well as

• An improved section on “Major Corporate Scandals: Governance Failures and Lessons Learned”
• A new content section on governance in emerging markets by adding India, South Africa, and Brazil.
• New references to companies issuing “sustainability reports” as a review of their ESG related performance.

There were also some content removals from this topic section including:

• The HIH case study with 9 (more in-depth) case studies remaining in the chapter (down from 10 in 2023 (v4) and 15 basic ones in 2022 (v3)
• The section on “Corporate Governance in Germany” as parts of it are covered elsewhere in the chapter and to allow for new countries (Brazil, India, and South Africa)

Topic 6: Engagement and Stewardship

The engagement and stewardship topic tests candidates’ understanding of the main principles and methods for establishing engagement and stewardship among institutional asset management firms.

In this topic area candidates will have 5 new self-practice questions to use as well as

• A new introduction section
• New content about shell, plc proxy voting case regarding energy transition strategy and stakeholder engagement
• New examples of successful engagement strategies
• New discussions of varying quality of investment manager stewardship reports from top managers
• New discussions of AXA’s engagement success
• New mentions of stewardship codes in Hong Kong SAR, India, South Africa, and the ICGN network
• Additional details of UK Stewardship code and recognizing systemic issues and risks
• Enhanced discussions of engagement; goal-setting and resources
• Notes on software providers that track engagement activity and outcomes
• Enhanced Climate Action 100+ pollution discussions
• New content about debt engagement strategies for conditions and disclosures
• A new exhibit showing overlapping interests of debt and equity holders
• New considerations of concerns for property developers and operators to stranded asset risk

There were also some content removals from this topic section including:

• Information related to activism that overly associated it with hedge funds and short-term value creation
• Non-testable paragraphs of prose relating to history of stewardship
• “disinvestment” as it was not defined or contrasted against any difference vs. “divestment”
• 10 key features of Investor Forum (which had too much detail and too UK centric)
• 2016 FRC Assessment of UK Code signatories
• Behavioral challenges in formulation coalitions among investors to solve engagement issues

Topic 7: ESG Analysis, Valuation, and Integration

The ESG analysis, valuation, and integration topic tests candidates’ knowledge of how to analyze ESG factors and apply them to develop valuations and approaches to integrate them across a range of asset classes.

In this topic area, candidates will have 5 new practice questions to use as well as notice extensive streamlining in how the syllabus is presented.

There were also some notable content additions including:

• Lessons 2-5 were restructured and rewritten
• New discussions were added about discount and terminal growth rates in a DCF model and changes to them based on ESG risk factors.
• A new case study of an oil & gas company, with a quantitative model with changes in inputs based on ESG risk factors.
• New mentions of World Bank Sovereign Data Portal, ISSB (including the two new sustainability standards IFRS S1 and S2) which will over time replace the SASB standards, AI, and natural language processing (NLP) with three uses cases
• New examples of emerging markets, alternative investments, and sustainability-linked bonds

There will also be less content in each LOS for this topic because some of it was deemed out of scope. The removal highlights are:

• Differences between “quantitative analysis and securities analysis”
• Discussions on intangible vs. tangible assets
• Investment firm culture challenges

Topic 8: ESG Integrated Portfolio Construction and Management

The ESG integrated portfolio construction and management topic asks candidates to understand how to construct and manage an ESG integrated portfolio and how to apply ESG screens to the main asset classes and their sub-sectors.

In this topic area, candidates will have 6 new self-practice questions to use. Some content removals aimed to reduce redundancy and out-of-scope topics such as:

• Physical vs. transition risks
• Discussions of ESG vs. Credit ratings
• The Black Litterman model
• Some portfolio risk/return commentary
• Discussions of EU sustainable finance strategy regulations

Topic 9: Investment Mandates, Portfolio Analytics, and Client Reporting

The investment mandates, portfolio analytics, and client reporting topic tests candidates’ understanding of why mandate construction is relevant and important to ESG investing and how ESG screens can be used to generate investment return and manage portfolio risk.

In this topic area candidates will have 10 new self-practice questions to use. Readability issues were also addressed by adding new headers and rearranging content.

New content for this section includes:

• A new LOS “Explain examples of greenwashing by financial market participants and the regulatory and reputational consequences of making misrepresentations”
• Information about how resources are assigned to stewardship in the context of engagement and voting
• A new section on greenwashing; definitions, misrepresentations, consequences, using data to combat, ability to assess indirect and direct impacts, “greenhushing”, “scopewashing”, competency greenwashing, misleading statements, ESA commentary, regulations, EU GCD, EU Ecolabel, UK Green Claims Code, FCA, IOSCO, ESG ratings, French, US and Japan treatment
• New greenwashing case studies on HSBC, DWC, Nestle, Coca-cola, Exxon-Mobil, Walmart, Volkswagen
• Information about Danish FSA treatment of greenwashing

There was also some content removed from this topic area including:

• A dated case study of (example #4) that noted that ESG application to commodities and money market fund is “in its infancy”
• An overview of ESG Investment approaches
• Sections about outsourcing and collective action concerning alternatives to building stewardship resources internally
• Information about the outsourcing of proxy voting coverage and direct engagement similar to Ch. 6 coverage
• Sections that may have conflated ESG scoring and performance and risk attribution

Project Management Professional is one of the most popular internationally recognized professional designations offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI). Project Management Professional Certification (PMP)® PMP certification demonstrates to employers, clients and colleagues that a project manager possesses project management knowledge, experience and skills to bring projects to successful completion. As the demand for skilled project managers is at a critically urgent level, practitioners who hold the PMP certification are well-positioned to provide the professional skills necessary to lead project teams and achieve successful project results.

Who Should Apply for Project Management Professional Certification (PMP)®

An experienced project manager must meet the given requirements including –

• Perform their duties under general supervision and are responsible for all aspects of the project for the life of the project
• Lead and direct cross-functional teams to deliver projects within the constraints of schedule, budget and resources
• Demonstrate sufficient knowledge and experience to appropriately apply a methodology to projects that have reasonably well-defined project requirements and deliverables.

Course Structure

Project management professionals need more diverse skills and approaches than ever before.

The Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification exam covers the latest exam topics –

• PEOPLE – emphasizing the skills and activities associated with effectively leading a project team
• PROCESS – reinforcing the technical aspects of managing a project
• BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT – highlighting the connection between projects and organization strategy

Detailed Updates For the 2024 Certificate in ESG Investing Curriculum

Below are summaries of what candidates are expected to know for each topic area and what has been updated in the latest version of the ESG curriculum.

Topic 1: Introduction to ESG Investing

The Introduction to ESG Investing topic tests candidates’ understanding of responsible investing and ESG factors within sustainable investing.

In this topic area candidates will have 8 new self-practice questions to use as well as new content about:

• Blackrock’s implementation of 2020 ESG commitments
• The percentage of the world’s largest corporations who signed the Paris Agreement
• A case study about a Brazilian water depletion case
• New costs for corporate issuers and institutional investors for climate-related disclosures and reporting
• Updates on the growth of new PRI signatories
• The recognition of the launch of ISSB reporting standards for 2024

There was also some content that was removed in this topic area including:

• Exhibit 3 – Guide to ESG reporting that was simplistic and duplicitous
• Exhibit 5 illustrative/hypothetical example of benchmarking that was poorly constructed by MSCI
• A Coca-Cola water depletion case study example from 2004
• A 2014 study analyzing data from the global climate database provided by CDP
• The quote “estimated that companies experience an average internal rate of return of 27%80% on their low-carbon investments”
• A 2014 reference to Walmart increasing their fleet efficiency by 87%
• Greenwashing references as there is new content in other chapters
• An explanation of what a meta-analysis is

Topic 2: The ESG Market

The ESG market topic tests candidates’ understanding of the ESG market in terms of

• Relevance
• Size
• Scope
• Key drivers
• Challenges
• Risks and opportunities

In this topic area candidates will have 7 new self-practice questions to use as well as new content including:

• A revised HSBC case study with their greenhouse gas reduction targets
• Information about how UK university endowment funds are banning fossil fuel investments
• Revised fund flow data in US
• New EU and UK examples of corporate disclosure guidelines and requirements
• New examples of Investor protection regulations account for sustainability
• New overviews of TCFD, ISSB, CSRD, SFDR, MiFID and other global regulatory initiatives
• New overview of UK’s Ten Point plan and TCFD-aligned disclosures and Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR)
• Common Ground Taxonomy (CGT) published by EU and People’s Bank of China
• Singapore Green Finance Action Plan and Green Finance Industry Taskforce
• ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance framework
• Australia – Council of Financial Regulators (CFR) measures
• New Zealand – Financial Sector (Climate-related Disclosures and Other Matters) Amendment Bill
• US – ERISA approving ESG considerations by fiduciaries 
  

Below is a summary of the content that was removed from this topic area:

• LOS 2.1.1 which asked candidates to explain the history of ESG Investing
• The entire 2nd section which was about the history of ESG Investing
• The 2015 survey from PRI about investment mandate clauses
• The case study of Insurer (Munich RE) with 2007 citations
• The shortened EU , USA case study
• Article 173 of French Energy Transition Law

Topic 3: Environmental Factors

The environmental factors topic tests candidates’ understanding of

• Environmental factors
• Systemic relationships
• Material impacts
• Megatrends
• Approaches to environmental analysis at the country, sector, and company levels.

In this topic area candidates will have 7 new self-practice questions to use as well as new content including:

• A rewritten LOS (3.1.1) including the explanation on the crossing of planetary boundaries concerning
• climate change, GHG emissions, Climate Sensitivity, Transient Climate response, Carbon budgets, fresh content in depletion of natural resources, biodiversity
• A new LOS (3.1.7) which asks candidates to describe and explain key methodologies that apply to biodiversity and its valuation, risk management, and interconnectedness with environmental factors and nature-related risks
• A new IPCC graphic – Human activities are responsible for global warming.
• A new IPCC graphic – Emissions Reductions needed to limit global warming to various temperatures.
• A new case study on climate scenarios – Business as usual
• A new graphic on main candidates for Tipping elements
• A new graphic on scaling up climate action
• A revised graphic on projections of GHG emissions under various scenarios up to 2050 and indications of emissions gaps & global warming implications.
• A new graphic on change in CO2 emissions per capita.
• The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
• The Net-Zero Industry Act and the Green Deal Industrial Plan
• A new case study -The “Just Transition’ -Sustainability in Society
• The TNFD: LEAP assessment framework and additional info on disclosure framework approach
• A new graphic – IRA : Energy funding by theme and source.
• A new graphic – Price evolution in selected ETSs
• A new graphic on Scope 1,2,3 emissions • Graphic -Temperature alignment -Key design judgments in alignment methodologies.
• A new graphic- Global Investment in energy transition by sector
• A new case study – But what if your Electric Vehicle is coal-powered.
• A new case study enhancement – What is “Green”?
• A new graphic – Emissions of selected energy technologies

There was also quite a bit of information removed from this topic area including:

• The superfluous content on economic activities & ecosystems from 3.1.1
• The graphic on GHG emission by economic sectors • Case study – Race to net zero – shortened
• The graphic on the green recovery
• The graphic on the circular economy in detail
• The graphic on clean energy technology’s level of readiness & applicability in various sectors
• The graphic on EV adjustment for physical climate risk by industry
• The graphic on the systemic relationship between a company’s value chain and impact on its financial performance caused by a change in weather conditions.
• The graphic on investor framework for climate-related scenario analysis

Topic 4: Social Factors

The social factors topic tests candidates’ understanding of

• Social factors
• System relationships
• Material impacts and approaches to social analysis at the country, sector, and company levels

In this topic area candidates will have 15 new self-practice questions to use as well as

• A new section on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and reference to the CFA Institute DEI Code
• A new reference to the importance of DEI strategies as part of human capital management strategies

Topic 5: Governance Factors

The governance factors topic tests candidates’ understanding of

• Governance factors
• Key characteristics
• Main models and material impacts

In this topic area candidates will have 14 new self-practice questions to use as well as

• An improved section on “Major Corporate Scandals: Governance Failures and Lessons Learned”
• A new content section on governance in emerging markets by adding India, South Africa, and Brazil.
• New references to companies issuing “sustainability reports” as a review of their ESG related performance.

There were also some content removals from this topic section including:

• The HIH case study with 9 (more in-depth) case studies remaining in the chapter (down from 10 in 2023 (v4) and 15 basic ones in 2022 (v3)
• The section on “Corporate Governance in Germany” as parts of it are covered elsewhere in the chapter and to allow for new countries (Brazil, India, and South Africa)

Topic 6: Engagement and Stewardship

The engagement and stewardship topic tests candidates’ understanding of the main principles and methods for establishing engagement and stewardship among institutional asset management firms.

In this topic area candidates will have 5 new self-practice questions to use as well as

• A new introduction section
• New content about shell, plc proxy voting case regarding energy transition strategy and stakeholder engagement
• New examples of successful engagement strategies
• New discussions of varying quality of investment manager stewardship reports from top managers
• New discussions of AXA’s engagement success
• New mentions of stewardship codes in Hong Kong SAR, India, South Africa, and the ICGN network
• Additional details of UK Stewardship code and recognizing systemic issues and risks
• Enhanced discussions of engagement; goal-setting and resources
• Notes on software providers that track engagement activity and outcomes
• Enhanced Climate Action 100+ pollution discussions
• New content about debt engagement strategies for conditions and disclosures
• A new exhibit showing overlapping interests of debt and equity holders
• New considerations of concerns for property developers and operators to stranded asset risk

There were also some content removals from this topic section including:

• Information related to activism that overly associated it with hedge funds and short-term value creation
• Non-testable paragraphs of prose relating to history of stewardship
• “disinvestment” as it was not defined or contrasted against any difference vs. “divestment”
• 10 key features of Investor Forum (which had too much detail and too UK centric)
• 2016 FRC Assessment of UK Code signatories
• Behavioral challenges in formulation coalitions among investors to solve engagement issues

Topic 7: ESG Analysis, Valuation, and Integration

The ESG analysis, valuation, and integration topic tests candidates’ knowledge of how to analyze ESG factors and apply them to develop valuations and approaches to integrate them across a range of asset classes.

In this topic area, candidates will have 5 new practice questions to use as well as notice extensive streamlining in how the syllabus is presented.

There were also some notable content additions including:

• Lessons 2-5 were restructured and rewritten
• New discussions were added about discount and terminal growth rates in a DCF model and changes to them based on ESG risk factors.
• A new case study of an oil & gas company, with a quantitative model with changes in inputs based on ESG risk factors.
• New mentions of World Bank Sovereign Data Portal, ISSB (including the two new sustainability standards IFRS S1 and S2) which will over time replace the SASB standards, AI, and natural language processing (NLP) with three uses cases
• New examples of emerging markets, alternative investments, and sustainability-linked bonds

There will also be less content in each LOS for this topic because some of it was deemed out of scope. The removal highlights are:

• Differences between “quantitative analysis and securities analysis”
• Discussions on intangible vs. tangible assets
• Investment firm culture challenges

Topic 8: ESG Integrated Portfolio Construction and Management

The ESG integrated portfolio construction and management topic asks candidates to understand how to construct and manage an ESG integrated portfolio and how to apply ESG screens to the main asset classes and their sub-sectors.

In this topic area, candidates will have 6 new self-practice questions to use. Some content removals aimed to reduce redundancy and out-of-scope topics such as:

• Physical vs. transition risks
• Discussions of ESG vs. Credit ratings
• The Black Litterman model
• Some portfolio risk/return commentary
• Discussions of EU sustainable finance strategy regulations

Topic 9: Investment Mandates, Portfolio Analytics, and Client Reporting

The investment mandates, portfolio analytics, and client reporting topic tests candidates’ understanding of why mandate construction is relevant and important to ESG investing and how ESG screens can be used to generate investment return and manage portfolio risk.

In this topic area candidates will have 10 new self-practice questions to use. Readability issues were also addressed by adding new headers and rearranging content.

New content for this section includes:

• A new LOS “Explain examples of greenwashing by financial market participants and the regulatory and reputational consequences of making misrepresentations”
• Information about how resources are assigned to stewardship in the context of engagement and voting
• A new section on greenwashing; definitions, misrepresentations, consequences, using data to combat, ability to assess indirect and direct impacts, “greenhushing”, “scopewashing”, competency greenwashing, misleading statements, ESA commentary, regulations, EU GCD, EU Ecolabel, UK Green Claims Code, FCA, IOSCO, ESG ratings, French, US and Japan treatment
• New greenwashing case studies on HSBC, DWC, Nestle, Coca-cola, Exxon-Mobil, Walmart, Volkswagen
• Information about Danish FSA treatment of greenwashing

There was also some content removed from this topic area including:

• A dated case study of (example #4) that noted that ESG application to commodities and money market fund is “in its infancy”
• An overview of ESG Investment approaches
• Sections about outsourcing and collective action concerning alternatives to building stewardship resources internally
• Information about the outsourcing of proxy voting coverage and direct engagement similar to Ch. 6 coverage
• Sections that may have conflated ESG scoring and performance and risk attribution

LEED Green Associate Overview

Project Management Professional is one of the most popular internationally recognized professional designations offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI). Project Management Professional Certification (PMP)® PMP certification demonstrates to employers, clients and colleagues that a project manager possesses project management knowledge, experience and skills to bring projects to successful completion. As the demand for skilled project managers is at a critically urgent level, practitioners who hold the PMP certification are well-positioned to provide the professional skills necessary to lead project teams and achieve successful project results.

Who Should Apply for Project Management Professional Certification (PMP)®

An experienced project manager must meet the given requirements including –

• Perform their duties under general supervision and are responsible for all aspects of the project for the life of the project
• Lead and direct cross-functional teams to deliver projects within the constraints of schedule, budget and resources
• Demonstrate sufficient knowledge and experience to appropriately apply a methodology to projects that have reasonably well-defined project requirements and deliverables.

Course Structure

Project management professionals need more diverse skills and approaches than ever before.

The Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification exam covers the latest exam topics –

• PEOPLE – emphasizing the skills and activities associated with effectively leading a project team
• PROCESS – reinforcing the technical aspects of managing a project
• BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT – highlighting the connection between projects and organization strategy