For decades, a banker's risk model had exactly two dials: risk and return. That model quietly broke down over the last two crises - the 2008 financial crash and the disruption of COVID-19 - both of which showed how badly banks can be exposed to shocks that have nothing to do with credit scores or interest rates. This ESG Risk and Strategy Training Course for Banking Managers from Arab British Fellowship Training Academy starts from that broken model and rebuilds it around a third dial: impact.

Sustainable banking is not a side project bolted onto traditional banking - it is banking with environmental and social exposure treated as seriously as credit exposure. Attendees start by re-examining what "risk" even means once climate, social, and governance (ESG) factors are on the table, and how to measure and manage that risk day to day.

From there, the course moves into what it takes to embed sustainability into a bank's actual operating model: redefining the mission, re-evaluating the portfolio, publishing ESG metrics, and building staff capacity so sustainability isn't just a policy document nobody reads.

Governance gets equal attention - disclosure, fair retail financing, complaint mechanisms, and transparency, particularly around financing extractive industries - because sustainable banking that clients and regulators don't trust doesn't hold up for long. The course closes by showing where the commercial payoff actually comes from: reputation, cost savings, and stronger standing with regulators and international bodies.

Objective: by the end of the course, attendees will be able to:

• Redefine risk to include environmental and social exposure, and build the tools to measure it.
• Embed ESG principles into the bank's mission, portfolio, and day-to-day operations.
• Apply governance practices - disclosure, fair financing, complaint handling - that hold up to regulatory and client scrutiny.
• Report progress through credible ESG metrics and sustainability reporting frameworks.
• Build financial models that weigh sustainable finance risk against traditional business risk.

Who Should Attend?

This course is ideal for:

• Banking Managers
• Strategy Team Members
• Risk Management Professionals
• Finance Managers
• Budget Managers
• Commercial Managers
• Capital Investment and Project Team Members

How Will Attendees Benefit?

• Sharper ESG literacy: a strong grasp of environmental, social, and governance criteria and how they shape lending, investment, and risk decisions.
• Sustainability embedded, not bolted on: practical ways to weave ESG into credit risk assessment, product development, and client advisory work.
• Regulatory confidence: staying current with sustainable finance regulation to avoid compliance, reputational, or financial harm.
• Better risk foresight: greater awareness of climate-related and sustainability risk, and stronger long-term financial judgement.
• Reputation and client trust: an institution that attracts socially responsible clients and investors.
• Career edge: recognised standing as a leader in green finance and innovative, customer-focused banking products.

Module 1: Risk Through a New Lens

• Redefining risk: from two dimensions to three (risk, return, impact)
• Evaluating and measuring environmental and social risk
• Building an environmental and social risk management system
• Defining the scope of E&S policies
• Owning indirect impacts and the bank's sphere of influence

Module 2: Embedding Sustainability into Core Strategy

• Concept, objectives, and principles of sustainable banking
• Sustainable banking products, services, and the sustainable bonds market
• Redefining the mission and re-evaluating the portfolio
• Setting and publishing ESG metrics and KPIs
• Building capacity: training, motivating, and rewarding staff; fostering innovation

Module 3: Governance Clients and Regulators Can Trust

• Corporate governance principles and adequate information disclosure
• Fair and inclusive retail financing practices
• Complaint mechanisms and responsibility guidelines
• Disclosing details of significant clients
• Transparency in extractive-industries financing

Module 4: Where the Payoff Comes From

• Reputational benefits and meeting regulatory requirements
• Energy efficiency and financial inclusion initiatives
• New sustainability initiatives and E&S capacity building
• Improved brand value, reduced costs, and stronger regulator and international engagement