Schools  Green Financial Literacy

What are ESG criteria? How can sustainable investment products be selected and critically reviewed? And why should an ethics filter be used for investments? Green financial literacy is also an important topic for pupils. In what follows, educators can find teaching materials for practice-oriented learning.

Climate and environmental protection has become increasingly important for the Austrian youth in recent years. They see the climate crisis as a serious challenge and are often looking for ways to actively get involved. However, many are not yet aware of the connection between the financial sector and climate, environmental, and sustainability topics. This is exactly where green financial literacy comes in.

Green financial literacy in the classroom

From the role of the financial market in climate protection and the various forms of investment to the, so-called, ethics filter: Youths learn important fundamentals for their personal financial future when dealing with the topic of green finance. The Ministry for Climate Action (BMK) thus developed the extensive learning kit “Investing Responsibly for the Future” for upper secondary pupils in cooperation with the Vienna Stock Exchange. It provides teachers a detailed set of materials that covers the key topics related to green financial literacy in an understandable and practice-oriented way. Each topic consists of a worksheet and an associated assignment that allows to apply the gained knowledge directly.

On the basis of exciting activities, students learn what they have to consider for future-oriented and responsible investment. Topics including the Sustainable Development Goals, ESG criteria (environmental, social, and governance aspects), the benefit of future-oriented investments, ethics filters and quality seals for the selection of sustainable forms of investment are covered in a total of six worksheets. At the end, pupils receive a checklist for future-oriented and responsible investment.