Austria Green Financial Literacy
The Ministry for Climate Actions activities related to green financial literacy expand existing training and further education programmes in the area of finance to include climate-relevant topics. The offerings are tailored towards experts, schools, universities of applied sciences, municipalities, and retail investors.
The Ministry for Climate Actions activities related to green financial literacy expand existing training and further education programmes in the area of finance to include climate-relevant topics. The offerings are tailored towards experts, schools, universities of applied sciences, municipalities, and retail investors.
In contrast to topics such as mobility, nutrition, or waste management, the significance of the connection between environmental/climate targets and finance is not immediately obvious. There is often a lack of awareness that the financial sector is an important leverage point for the sustainable transformation of our economy as well as our society and that investments in line with the climate targets make an important contribution to environmental and climate protection. Therefore, comprehensive competence and knowledge development is needed for environmentally/climate-relevant topics and their interrelationships with the financial sector.
In order to raise awareness for these interconnections and facilitate knowledge building, the Ministry for Climate Action provides information on climate and environmental aspects in the area of finance for various target groups. Training content for environmentally/climate-relevant topics for a future-proof financial system is developed in close cooperation with relevant stakeholders. The topics are then integrated into existing training and further education programmes. In this way, various stakeholders are addressed at all relevant levels – including experts in the financial sector; educational institutions such as schools, universities of applied sciences, universities; interested retail investors and municipalities.
National financial literacy strategy
The Ministry for Climate Action (BMK) cooperates closely with the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) in its activities in the area of green financial literacy as part of the national financial literacy strategy. The goal of this strategy is to raise citizens’ awareness, improve their financial competences and understanding in the area of financial literacy.
Financial Literacy – national financial literacy strategy (→ BMF)German text
The topic of green finance is anchored as one of three overarching focus areas in the national strategy: “Supporting consumers in making sustainable financial decisions”. This will ensure that knowledge about the connection between financial decisions and climate protection is a fundamental part of this process and is incorporated into the various measures.
Activities in the area of green financial literacy
- As one of the first measures, in 2020, a training series on green debt instruments for all stakeholders in the financial sector considering issuing green debt instruments was organised for the first time in Austria by the Ministry for Climate Action.
- One measure was the development of learning materials for upper secondary school pupils in cooperation with the Vienna Stock Exchange: “Investing Responsibly for the Future”
- Interested private individuals can find initial information on the topic of green finance in the green finance fact check (→ faktencheck-energiewende.at)German text
Expansion of existing financial literacy content
If you also would like to expand your financial education content to include important climate and environmental aspects and you are interested in cooperating, please contact us at: greenfinance@bmk.gv.at.