Students

AFIN8010 – Environmental Finance

2025 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Clara Zhou
clara.zhou@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
(Admission to MActPrac or MFin or GradCertResBus or GradDipResBus) or ACST6003 or ACCG6003 or ECON6049 or ECON8091
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

Environmental Finance is designed as an advanced unit to equip students with insights into the changing dynamics of the natural environment and the effects on finance and accounting decisions in the modern corporation. Students will learn about the international climate finance architecture as well as public and private investments into new projects associated with climate change adaptation and mitigation. The unit will introduce methods for evaluating the effects of environmental changes on business, introducing students to tools that will enable them to be intelligent users of risk assessment methodologies. It will also focus on exploring the implications of climate/environmental change for asset impairment, and introduces students to ideas around corporate social responsibility and the applicability to environmental finance. The unit concludes by introducing students to general ideas of how to evaluate adaptation and mitigation investment decisions under conditions of risk and uncertainty. Changing disclosure requirements from the changing environmental landscape are discussed.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Apply finance techniques and theory to make sound energy finance and related investment decisions.
  • ULO2: Analyse how markets react to the new standards of sustainable finance and investment.
  • ULO3: Evaluate the state-of-art financing models for green assets.
  • ULO4: Work productively in a group to analyse and present well-justified recommendations regarding a business problem or opportunity.

General Assessment Information

Late Assessment Submission Penalty (written assessments)  

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern.   

 For any late submissions of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, students need to submit an application for Special Consideration. 

 

 

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Valuation Task 20% No Week 8
Take home assignment 50% No Week 13
Case studies 30% No Week 3 and Week 6

Valuation Task

Assessment Type 1: Quantitative analysis task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: Week 8
Weighting: 20%

 

Students will conduct a valuation of a company and produce a 1000 to 2000 word report.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Apply finance techniques and theory to make sound energy finance and related investment decisions.
  • Analyse how markets react to the new standards of sustainable finance and investment.
  • Evaluate the state-of-art financing models for green assets.

Take home assignment

Assessment Type 1: Project
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Week 13
Weighting: 50%

 

Student will complete a take home assignment in specified timeframe.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Apply finance techniques and theory to make sound energy finance and related investment decisions.
  • Analyse how markets react to the new standards of sustainable finance and investment.
  • Evaluate the state-of-art financing models for green assets.

Case studies

Assessment Type 1: Case study/analysis
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Week 3 and Week 6
Weighting: 30%

 

Students will work in groups to analyse two cases. Students will present their findings and recommendations from this task via a (1) 1500 to 3000 word group report, for each case study; and (2) presentation. 50% of the marks from this task will be based on a student’s individual contribution to the case study analysis and their individual presentation.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Apply finance techniques and theory to make sound energy finance and related investment decisions.
  • Analyse how markets react to the new standards of sustainable finance and investment.
  • Evaluate the state-of-art financing models for green assets.
  • Work productively in a group to analyse and present well-justified recommendations regarding a business problem or opportunity.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Please refer to iLearn for delivery details. No prescribed textbook is required.

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit connect.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via the Service Connect Portal, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Unit information based on version 2025.02 of the Handbook