ESG study notes that move a number, not a narrative
Every reading mapped to its chapter in the CFA Institute Sustainable Investing Certificate syllabus, with integration worked end to end — how an ESG factor actually changes a forecast, a discount rate, or a portfolio weight.
Sourced to the chapter, never paraphrased
Each note names the chapter outcome it answers and the framework behind it. When a disclosure regime is cited — TCFD, SFDR, ISSB — we name the requirement, not the acronym.
Integration taught, not just defined
The heaviest-weighted material — analysis, valuation, and integration — is worked through to the changed number, so you can reproduce the mechanism rather than recognise the term.
Built for a single sitting
There are no levels to pace across. Every note ends on the distinction the item turns on, sized for a candidate preparing to sit once and pass.
All nine chapters, one exam
Notes span the full official syllabus. There are no levels — the certificate is a single computer-based exam, and the package covers all of it.
One note, in full
Why carbon intensity and total emissions answer different questions
Total financed emissions scale with position size, so a large holding in a clean company can outweigh a small holding in a dirty one. Carbon intensity — emissions per unit of revenue or per dollar invested — normalises that away and compares efficiency instead.
The consequence is practical: a portfolio can cut total emissions simply by shrinking, while its intensity is unchanged. That is why a decarbonisation target stated in absolute terms and one stated in intensity terms can both be met by portfolios that look nothing alike — the distinction a mandate, and the exam, turns on.