Family E · Cross-cutting disciplines · Coming soon
ESG, Climate Risk & Sustainable Finance Certification
Where sustainability stops being a story and becomes a number.
Notice
Upcoming certification. It carries no regulatory recognition, does not inherit the designation the Institute's active certifications hold before CONSAR and the CNSF, and does not replace any certification required by CONSAR, the CNBV or the CNSF for staff at Afores, issuers or insurers. Modules, hours, weightings and exam format come from the preparation program and the blueprints and may be adjusted before opening.
ESG
01 — ABSTRACTESG, Climate Risk & Sustainable Finance Certification
Sustainability has stopped being a voluntary commitment and become a regime with deadlines. Since 2024 the ISSB's IFRS S1 and S2 have set the global baseline for disclosure; Mexico's CNBV made them mandatory for non-financial issuers from fiscal year 2025, and CONSAR requires the Afores, the country's pension fund managers, to integrate environmental, social and governance factors through methodologies of their own, under fines assessed per portfolio. Anyone managing capital no longer decides whether to integrate ESG, only how rigorously, and how to prove it.
The available credentials force a choice. The CFA Institute certificate covers ESG integration in investing but barely touches climate-risk modeling; GARP's SCR covers climate risk from the risk-management side, not the investment side, and gives little room to the social and governance pillars. Neither addresses Latin American frameworks. The ESG, Climate Risk & Sustainable Finance Certification assesses both sides on the same portfolio: factors, regulatory frameworks, instruments, portfolio integration and quantified climate risk.
A certified professional demonstrates the ability to read a report prepared under IFRS S2 and separate what is material from what is decorative; to interpret an ESG rating knowing how far providers diverge; to check a labeled bond against the ICMA principles; to integrate ESG factors into asset allocation; and to estimate a portfolio's climate risk with NGFS scenarios and Climate VaR. For the employer, that is a sustainability function that answers to the risk committee and the regulator with evidence rather than narrative.
ESG
02 — INDUSTRYWhat is happening in the industry
Regulation has converged and become enforceable. More than half of global GDP is moving toward the ISSB standards, and Mexico is among the 17 jurisdictions profiled for full adoption. In January 2025 the CNBV required non-financial issuers to report under IFRS S1 and S2 from that fiscal year, with limited assurance from fiscal year 2026. CONSAR has required the Afores to run their own ESG integration methodologies since 2022 and continuous ESG training since September of that year, and has submitted to CONAMER a draft rule making ESG certification mandatory for their investment officers.
The capital has already moved. The Afores invested MXN 110.4 billion in ESG bonds in 2022, one hundred times the previous year. Mexico's thematic bond market reached MXN 135.1 billion in the first quarter of 2024, up 238 % year on year, and Mexico is Latin America's second-largest labeled bond market, with USD 38.3 billion issued through 2023. Across the region, green, social and sustainability bonds rose from 9.3 % to almost 35 % of total issuance between 2020 and 2023.
The competence has become technical. ESG ratings from six providers correlate at 0.54 on average, against 0.99 between credit rating agencies: whoever uses them without understanding the methodology is deciding blind. Physical-risk losses are underestimated by up to 70 % when asset-level information is ignored, and a financial institution's financed emissions average 750 times its operational emissions. The Bank of England, the ECB and the Federal Reserve already run climate stress tests, and a single greenwashing case drew USD 19 million and EUR 25 million in penalties.
ESG
03 — WHYWhy this certification
In sustainable finance it is not enough to know how to invest, nor to know how to measure; both have to be done on the same portfolio and defended before the same committee. Existing certifications split those competences into two credentials, and the market hires them separately. This certification assesses one person across the full cycle: understanding the factors, reading the frameworks, choosing the instrument, integrating it into the portfolio and quantifying what can go wrong under climate scenarios.
The design starts from the map of gaps the current programs leave open: nature risk and TNFD, the social pillar, integrated coverage of the regulatory frameworks, quantitative climate analysis, emerging markets, supply chains and Scope 3, data and artificial intelligence, risk and investment integrated in one program, and continuous updating. On that map the institute built a body of knowledge with a global core and a Mexico component covering CONSAR's ESG mandate, the CUF and the Afore investment regime.
- One exam for ESG integration and quantified climate risk, which today requires two separate credentials.
- A global core with a Mexico component: CONSAR's ESG mandate, the CUF, the Afore investment regime and Mexico's Sustainable Taxonomy.
- The social pillar and nature risk carry their own weight, where existing programs barely touch them.
- Items at Bloom levels 1, 2 and 3 and case vignettes built on portfolio data, not memory questions.
- A 114-hour preparation program taught by practitioners from banks, asset and pension fund managers, stock exchanges, consulting firms and international climate-finance bodies.
- A body of knowledge refreshed every year, with 20 to 40 hours of continuing education planned per cycle, because the frameworks change faster than any syllabus.
ESG
04 — OUTCOMESWhat it prepares for
- 01
Read a sustainability report prepared under IFRS S1 and S2 and identify what is material to valuation and what is not.
- 02
Interpret ESG ratings from different providers, explain why they diverge and decide which one to use for which decision.
- 03
Classify a green, social, sustainability or sustainability-linked bond and check its alignment with the ICMA principles and the applicable taxonomies.
- 04
Integrate ESG factors into issuer selection, portfolio construction and strategic asset allocation, with decarbonization targets and risk constraints.
- 05
Distinguish acute and chronic physical risks from transition risks and trace their transmission channels into a credit or investment portfolio.
- 06
Choose the NGFS scenario appropriate to a mandate and estimate a portfolio's Climate VaR with scenario-based and probabilistic methods.
- 07
Measure a portfolio's carbon footprint across Scopes 1, 2 and 3 and design a transition plan with verifiable targets.
- 08
Spot greenwashing in a prospectus, an index or a report, and explain the ESG obligations CONSAR imposes on an Afore.
ESG
05 — INSTITUTIONSThe cut-off line
An institution that requires this certification gets what an interview cannot verify: that the person running sustainability, investments or risk can stand behind a climate-risk figure before the risk committee, the auditor and the regulator. With the CNBV asking for assurance on sustainability reports and CONSAR fining per portfolio, the cost of an ESG function made of narrative is no longer reputational; it is financial.
The certification sets one cut-off line for three profiles that currently speak different languages: the one who invests, the one who measures risk and the one who reports. When all three hold the same body of knowledge, the committee decides on one data set and one vocabulary, and the report that goes to the regulator is the same one that was argued inside.
- A verifiable standard for hiring or promoting in sustainability, investments and risk.
- ISSB reports that withstand external assurance, because whoever prepares them knows the standard.
- In-house ESG integration methodologies, as CONSAR requires, instead of reliance on third-party labels.
- Climate-risk figures that hold up before the board, the auditor and the regulator.
ESG
06 — PROFILEWho it is for
Who it is for
- Investment analysts, portfolio managers and asset allocators at Afores, insurers, investment funds and asset managers.
- Risk teams that must embed climate risk in their frameworks, stress tests and board reporting.
- Heads of sustainability, sustainable finance and corporate reporting at banks, issuers and corporates adopting IFRS S1 and S2.
- Debt capital markets bankers, structurers and consultants who design, place or assess labeled instruments.
- Regulators, supervisors and exchange staff who define or monitor ESG requirements.
Who it is not for
- Anyone seeking a general introduction to sustainability without a base in financial mathematics or market knowledge.
- Anyone who needs a credential required by a regulator: this certification carries no regulatory recognition and replaces no mandatory certification.
- Anyone expecting a memory test: the vignettes require applying methods to portfolio data.
ESG
07 — KNOWLEDGEBody of knowledge
Ten weighted domains, taken from the certification blueprint, from the factor to the quantified risk. Weights are the blueprint's ranges and do not close at 100 (their bounds add up to 90 % and 115 %); each domain's final percentage is set before the exam opens. Topics come from the preparation program and the blueprint.
01ESG fundamentals and market landscape8–10 %
- From CSR to ESG: conceptual, strategic and regulatory evolution
- Financial, non-financial and double materiality
- Responsible investment: PRI, UNEP FI and responsible banking
- The sustainable finance ecosystem: investors, issuers, exchanges and regulators
- Size and evolution of the sustainable assets market
- Organizational ESG maturity: diagnosis and degree of integration
02Environmental factors and climate science10–12 %
- The scientific framework: IPCC, from the Paris Agreement to the SSP scenarios
- Carbon emissions: Scopes 1, 2 and 3 and the carbon footprint of a portfolio
- Natural resources, water, waste and the circular economy
- Biodiversity and nature risk: TNFD and the Kunming-Montreal framework
- Sectors with the largest environmental footprint: energy, water and manufacturing
- Measuring environmental performance against international standards
03Social factors and the just transition6–8 %
- Human capital: wellbeing, occupational health and working conditions
- Business and human rights: the UN Guiding Principles, forced and child labour
- The responsible value chain: supplier assessment on ESG criteria
- Diversity, equity and inclusion
- Communities, consumers and product and service responsibility
- The just transition: the social costs of decarbonization
04Corporate governance and stewardship8–10 %
- Governance structures: shareholders' meeting, board, sustainability and risk committees
- Integrity, business ethics and compliance
- Executive compensation linked to ESG performance
- Engagement, proxy voting and active ownership
- Contribution to the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda
- Reputational controversies and emerging governance risks
05Global and Mexican regulatory frameworks12–15 %
- ISSB: IFRS S1 and S2 and their implementation in companies and financial institutions
- The TCFD legacy and the 14 TNFD recommendations
- The European architecture: EU Taxonomy, SFDR, CSRD and ESRS
- Reporting frameworks: GRI, SASB, CDP and SBTi
- Mexico: CONSAR's ESG mandate, the CUF and the Afore investment regime
- ISSB adoption by the CNBV and CINIF sustainability standards
- Mexico's Sustainable Taxonomy and cross-references to Chile, Colombia and Brazil
06Climate risk assessment12–15 %
- Acute and chronic physical risks; transition risks: policy, technology, market and reputation
- Transmission channels of climate risk into markets and balance sheets
- NGFS and IEA scenarios and central bank stress tests
- Climate Value at Risk: scenario-based and probabilistic methods
- Climate stress testing and its integration into ICAAP and ILAAP
- Carbon pricing, stranded assets and financed emissions (PCAF)
- Modeling physical and transition risk in credit and commercial real estate portfolios
07ESG integration in investment15–20 %
- Strategies: exclusion, best-in-class, integration, thematic, impact and engagement
- Issuer assessment: ratings, KPIs and controversies
- Divergence among ESG rating providers and its consequences for decisions
- ESG indices and benchmarks: design, use and limitations
- Multi-asset portfolio construction with ESG criteria
- Asset allocation with Net Zero targets and portfolio transition plans
- Fiduciary duty and institutional investor governance
08Green and sustainable finance instruments8–10 %
- ICMA principles: green, social and sustainability bonds
- Sustainability-linked bonds (SLB) and the Climate Bonds Standard
- Structuring, due diligence and second-party opinions
- Sustainable loans, ESG ETFs and funds, green insurance
- Transition finance and funding sectoral decarbonization
- Carbon markets and carbon credits
- The role of stock exchanges and organized markets
09ESG data, technology and greenwashing6–8 %
- ESG data governance: collection, validation and traceability
- Rating methodologies and quantitative analysis tools
- Technology tools and ESG data management systems
- Greenwashing: detection, controversies and penalties
- Digital reporting and tagging of sustainability data
10Emerging trends5–7 %
- Artificial intelligence applied to ESG analysis
- Biodiversity markets and nature credits
- Transition financing strategies (GFANZ) and sovereign transition bonds
- Sovereign ESG and its biases
- New decarbonization technologies: carbon capture and hydrogen
- The anti-ESG debate and the evolution of the terminology
ESG
08 — TWO PRODUCTSPreparation program · Certification exam
Preparation program
Preparation program
Program delivered by RiskMathics Financial Institute
Delivered by RiskMathics Financial Institute, the group's school since 2005, as a live online executive program. It covers the exam's ten domains across three pillars, 15 modules and 58 classes, and includes mock exams built to the exam's recipe. Taking the program is not a requirement for sitting the certification exam.
ESG Climate Risk & Sustainable Finance Executive Program
114 hThree pillars. Pillar I, ESG & Transition Finance: environmental factors, materiality and the integration of ESG issues into the business, social factors and corporate governance (3 modules, the first in two parts; 14 classes, 28 h). Pillar II, ESG Investments, Markets & Asset Management: climate change and its implications, sustainable finance and instruments, benchmarks and tools, structuring and placement of debt and equity in ESG markets, the role of exchanges, portfolio construction, asset allocation and IFRS S1 and S2 implementation (8 modules, 28 classes, 56 h). Pillar III, Risk Management & Analysis: transition finance, climate risk stress testing, Climate Value at Risk and risk thinking (4 modules, 16 classes, 30 h).
- All 15 modules of the syllabus in 58 live online classes, 7:00 to 9:00 pm Mexico City time; hours vary by module.
- Practitioners from banks, asset and pension fund managers, stock exchanges, consulting firms and international climate-finance bodies across Mexico, Latin America and North America.
- Mock exams built to the exam's recipe and to Bloom levels 1, 2 and 3.
- Practical cases on global and local market data: labeled issuances in Mexico and Latin America, climate-risk modeling on credit and commercial real estate portfolios, and team exercises on Climate VaR.
Next cohort to be confirmed. The 2026 edition ran from February to July, with classes from 7:00 to 9:00 pm Mexico City time; hours vary by module.
Certification exam
Certification exam
Built, audited and administered by the RiskMathics Certificate Institute as an independent third party. It may be taken with or without having completed the preparation program. A single level, with a global core and a Mexico component. The first sitting is planned for the second quarter of 2027.
If the candidate does not pass
The Certification Board is defining the failure and retake policy: how many attempts each window allows, the minimum wait between them and the fee for sitting the exam again. It is published here as soon as it is approved; in the meantime, the figures may be requested at growth@riskmathics.com. Exam governance →
Items are written at levels 1, 2 and 3 of Bloom's taxonomy: remember, understand and apply. Each form follows a fixed recipe of items per domain and per level, so that any two candidates face the same demand. Vignettes present a short scenario with text, tables and figures; their items can be answered independently. Bloom's Taxonomy →
ESG
09 — MOCK EXAMSMock exams
The preparation program includes mock exams. Each is built to the recipe of the real exam: the same domains, the same weights and the same proportion of items per Bloom level, from remember to apply. The items differ from those in the certification bank; they measure the same thing without exposing it.
A mock reproduces the format of 90 multiple-choice items and 4 case vignettes. Results come back by domain and by level, so the candidate knows what is missing and at which level: the standard, the interpretation or the calculation. In the climate-risk module, for example, the design places 25 % of the items at remember, 40 % at understand and 35 % at apply.
- Level 1 · Remember: definitions, the pillars of IFRS S2, the objectives of the EU Taxonomy, the components of the ICMA principles, the NGFS scenario families.
- Level 2 · Understand: interpret a materiality matrix, the divergence between two ESG ratings, the effect of a carbon price on a sector or the difference between physical and transition risk.
- Level 3 · Apply: calculate a portfolio's weighted average carbon intensity, estimate a scenario-based Climate VaR, adjust a probability of default to a climate scenario, apply CONSAR's ESG requirements to a CKD or build a portfolio with an emissions-reduction target and a tracking-error constraint.
ESG
10 — PATHLearning path
- Phase 1
The three factorsPillar I · 3 modules · 14 classes · 28 h
Environmental factors and materiality, social factors and corporate governance: from CSR to ESG, double materiality, human rights and the value chain, board, committees and compensation linked to sustainability.
- Phase 2
Markets, instruments and reportingPillar II · 8 modules · 28 classes · 56 h
Climate change as a financial risk, responsible investment and taxonomies, benchmarks and rating providers, structuring and placement of ESG bonds, the role of exchanges, portfolio construction, asset allocation with Net Zero targets and IFRS S1 and S2 implementation.
- Phase 3
Climate risk, quantifiedPillar III · 4 modules · 16 classes · 30 h
Transition finance and the modeling of physical and transition risk, climate stress testing within ICAAP and ILAAP, Climate Value at Risk and risk thinking under radical uncertainty.
- Phase 4
Mock exams and gap closingAt the end of the program · to be confirmed
Mock exams built to the exam's recipe, with results by domain and by Bloom level; targeted review of the lowest-scoring domains.
- Phase 5
Certification examSecond quarter of 2027 · dates to be confirmed
110 items per form, online and proctored. Candidates who did not take the program may sit the exam directly.
Investment
11Program and exam, priced separately
Program and exam are two products with two fees; neither includes the other. Candidates enrolling in the program from Mexico pay in pesos; the rest of the world pays in US dollars. The exam fee is stated in US dollars plus applicable tax; payment terms are published with the call for candidates.
ESG
12 — FAQFrequently asked questions
Can the exam be taken without the program?
Yes. The exam is built and administered by the RiskMathics Certificate Institute and can be taken with or without the program. The program, delivered by RiskMathics Financial Institute, covers the full body of knowledge and includes mock exams; it is the recommended path to prepare, not a requirement.
How does it differ from the CFA Sustainable Investing Certificate and GARP's SCR?
The CFA Institute certificate covers ESG integration in investing with limited depth on climate-risk modeling; GARP's SCR covers climate risk from the risk-management side, with limited attention to investing and to the social and governance pillars. This certification assesses both sides in a single exam, gives the social pillar and nature risk their own weight, and includes a Mexico and Latin America component that neither of the two covers.
Does it carry regulatory recognition?
No. It certifies knowledge and competence; it is not endorsed by any regulator and does not replace any certification required by CONSAR, the CNBV, the CNSF or any other authority. CONSAR has submitted to CONAMER a draft rule that would require ESG certification for Afore investment officers; this certification is not presented as compliance with that draft or with any other rule.
When is the first exam, and how does one register?
The first exam is planned for the second quarter of 2027. Dates, calendar and registration terms are published with the call for candidates. Until then, the channel is to request information at growth@riskmathics.com or +52 55 55 36 35 97 ext. 2023.
In which language are the program and the exam delivered?
The program is taught in Spanish, with some modules and materials in English. The language of the exam is to be confirmed.
How long is the certification valid, and is there continuing education?
Validity is to be confirmed. The design provides for a continuing education requirement of 20 to 40 hours per two- to three-year cycle and an annual refresh of the body of knowledge, because ESG frameworks change every year. The final rules are published before the first exam.
ESG, Climate Risk & Sustainable Finance Certification
Where sustainability stops being a story and becomes a number.