Climate Finance and Climate-Related Financial Disclosure Auditing Training Course

Course Introduction

The Climate Finance and Climate-Related Financial Disclosure Auditing Training Course provides a comprehensive framework for auditing climate-related financial information, climate risks, opportunities, emissions data, transition strategies, and related disclosures. The programme examines how auditors can evaluate the reliability, completeness, consistency, governance, and financial relevance of climate information within increasingly sophisticated reporting and assurance environments.

The course provides detailed coverage of IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures and its relationship with IFRS S1, including governance, strategy, risk management, metrics, targets, materiality, and climate-related risks and opportunities. IFRS S2 applies to annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024, making climate-related financial disclosure capabilities increasingly relevant to preparers, auditors, assurance professionals, boards, investors, and regulators.

Participants will examine how climate-related risks can affect cash flows, access to finance, cost of capital, asset values, liabilities, business models, strategic decisions, and long-term financial resilience. The programme addresses physical risks, transition risks, climate-related opportunities, scenario analysis, resilience assessments, transition planning, and the integration of climate considerations into enterprise risk management and financial reporting processes.

A major focus of the course is the audit and assurance of greenhouse gas emissions information, including Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions, emissions measurement methodologies, organizational boundaries, activity data, emission factors, estimation techniques, controls, and supporting documentation. Participants will develop practical approaches for assessing emissions data quality, reconciling source information, evaluating calculations, and identifying weaknesses that could affect reported climate information. IFRS S2 includes greenhouse gas disclosure requirements, with amendments issued in December 2025 that are effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, subject to the applicable transition and early-application provisions.

The programme also addresses sustainability assurance, audit evidence, internal controls, governance, management assertions, materiality, professional skepticism, documentation, and assurance conclusions. Participants will examine the International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA 5000), which provides a principles-based framework for sustainability assurance and is effective for applicable assurance engagements from 15 December 2026, with adoption and jurisdictional implementation varying by location.

The course concludes with emerging developments in climate finance, sustainable investment, transition finance, financed emissions, climate-related scenario analysis, carbon markets, climate data technology, artificial intelligence, and continuous sustainability assurance. Participants will learn how to build audit approaches that connect climate disclosures with financial reporting, risk management, internal controls, governance, strategic decision-making, and credible assurance outcomes.

Duration

10 days

Who Should Attend

• Internal auditors responsible for climate risk, sustainability reporting, financial controls, and emerging risk assurance.

• External auditors and assurance professionals involved in climate-related financial and sustainability reporting engagements.

• Sustainability reporting professionals responsible for preparing climate-related disclosures and supporting assurance processes.

• Finance directors, financial controllers, and accounting professionals responsible for climate-related financial information.

• Risk management professionals assessing physical climate risks, transition risks, and climate-related financial exposures.

• ESG and sustainability professionals responsible for climate metrics, targets, reporting, and sustainability governance.

• Climate finance professionals involved in sustainable investment, transition finance, green finance, and climate-related financial analysis.

• Compliance professionals monitoring climate disclosure requirements, regulatory developments, and reporting obligations.

• Audit managers and supervisors responsible for planning and reviewing climate-related assurance and audit engagements.

• Governance, risk, and compliance professionals integrating climate considerations into enterprise control frameworks.

• Board and audit committee support professionals seeking to understand climate disclosure controls, risks, and assurance requirements.

• Carbon accounting and greenhouse gas specialists involved in emissions measurement, verification, and reporting processes.

• Investment and financial services professionals assessing climate risks, opportunities, financed emissions, and portfolio exposures.

• Data analysts and information systems professionals supporting climate data collection, validation, analytics, and reporting systems.

• Professionals preparing organizations for sustainability assurance, evolving disclosure requirements, and climate-related regulatory developments.

Course Objectives

• Develop a comprehensive understanding of climate finance, climate-related financial risks, sustainability reporting, and the audit implications of climate-related disclosures.

• Examine IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 requirements and understand how governance, strategy, risk management, metrics, and targets translate into auditable climate information.

• Evaluate the financial implications of physical and transition climate risks on assets, liabilities, cash flows, financing, business models, and long-term organizational resilience.

• Assess the design and effectiveness of internal controls supporting climate-related data, greenhouse gas emissions, climate metrics, targets, scenarios, and financial disclosures.

• Apply practical audit procedures to evaluate the completeness, accuracy, consistency, validity, reliability, and traceability of climate-related financial information.

• Examine greenhouse gas accounting processes covering Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions, organizational boundaries, emission factors, calculations, estimates, and supporting evidence.

• Evaluate climate-related targets, transition plans, decarbonization strategies, milestones, performance indicators, and management assumptions from an audit and assurance perspective.

• Apply risk-based audit methodologies to identify material misstatement, disclosure, data quality, governance, control, and assurance risks associated with climate information.

• Assess scenario analysis and climate resilience information, including assumptions, time horizons, uncertainties, data sources, models, and potential financial statement implications.

• Understand sustainability assurance requirements under ISSA 5000 and develop appropriate approaches to evidence, materiality, documentation, quality management, ethics, and assurance conclusions.

• Strengthen audit analytics and data validation capabilities by applying reconciliations, trend analysis, exception testing, automated controls, and technology-enabled climate data review.

• Build an integrated climate disclosure audit strategy that connects climate finance, financial reporting, risk management, internal controls, governance, sustainability data, and assurance requirements.

Comprehensive Course Outline

Module 1: Foundations of Climate Finance and Climate-Related Financial Reporting

• Principles of climate finance, climate-related financial risks, sustainability reporting, climate opportunities, and their growing relevance to financial decision-making.

• Relationships between climate change, corporate strategy, financial performance, capital allocation, investment decisions, financing costs, and long-term enterprise value.

• Evolution of climate-related financial disclosures from voluntary reporting toward standardized, decision-useful, and increasingly assured financial information.

• Roles and responsibilities of boards, management, finance, risk, sustainability, internal audit, external audit, investors, regulators, and assurance providers.

Module 2: IFRS S1, IFRS S2, and Climate Disclosure Architecture

• Structure and objectives of IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, including governance, strategy, risk management, metrics, targets, and materiality considerations.

• Identification and disclosure of climate-related physical risks, transition risks, opportunities, and information relevant to users of general purpose financial reports.

• Integration of climate-related financial disclosures with financial statements, reporting periods, management processes, and broader sustainability reporting systems.

• Audit considerations arising from evolving ISSB implementation, jurisdictional adoption, interoperability, transition provisions, and changing disclosure expectations.

Module 3: Climate Governance and Board-Level Oversight

• Auditing governance structures for climate-related risks and opportunities, including board oversight, management accountability, policies, responsibilities, and reporting lines.

• Evaluating the role of audit committees, risk committees, sustainability committees, and executive management in climate-related financial oversight.

• Assessing governance controls over climate assumptions, targets, metrics, disclosures, strategic commitments, and significant management judgments.

• Reviewing evidence of management oversight, challenge, escalation, monitoring, decision-making, and accountability for climate-related financial risks.

Module 4: Climate Risk Identification and Financial Risk Assessment

• Identifying physical climate risks such as extreme weather, water stress, temperature changes, flooding, drought, wildfires, and other environmental exposures.

• Assessing transition risks arising from regulation, technology, market preferences, carbon pricing, financing conditions, energy transformation, and changing customer expectations.

• Evaluating how climate risks may affect credit risk, market risk, liquidity risk, operational risk, insurance risk, investment risk, and strategic risk.

• Linking climate risk assessments to financial statement accounts, business processes, risk registers, controls, audit assertions, and enterprise risk management frameworks.

Module 5: Climate Strategy, Transition Plans, and Business Model Resilience

• Auditing climate strategies, decarbonization plans, transition pathways, operational commitments, capital expenditure assumptions, and strategic implementation programmes.

• Evaluating whether climate-related targets and transition plans are supported by credible assumptions, governance structures, resources, milestones, and measurable performance indicators.

• Assessing climate resilience and the potential effects of changing technologies, markets, regulations, energy systems, and customer behavior on business models.

• Reviewing consistency between climate strategies, financial forecasts, budgets, investment plans, risk assessments, public commitments, and reported performance.

Module 6: Climate Scenario Analysis and Financial Modelling

• Principles of climate scenario analysis, scenario selection, time horizons, assumptions, uncertainty, sensitivity analysis, and financial impact assessment.

• Auditing climate-related models used to assess potential effects on revenues, costs, asset values, capital expenditure, financing, cash flows, and business continuity.

• Evaluating data sources, model assumptions, scenario parameters, methodologies, limitations, and management judgments used in climate-related financial analysis.

• Testing the consistency, documentation, governance, validation, and reasonableness of climate scenario analysis used in disclosures and strategic decisions.

Module 7: Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Emissions Data Auditing

• Fundamentals of Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions accounting and their significance for climate-related financial disclosures.

• Auditing organizational and operational boundaries, activity data, emission factors, calculations, estimates, consolidation approaches, and emissions intensity measures.

• Testing emissions data through reconciliations, source-document review, analytical procedures, recalculation, sampling, exception analysis, and data lineage assessment.

• Evaluating emissions estimation uncertainty, methodological changes, data gaps, restatements, controls, documentation, and management review procedures.

Module 8: Scope 3 Emissions, Value Chains, and Financed Emissions

• Auditing Scope 3 emissions data across suppliers, customers, transportation, purchased goods, business travel, investments, and other relevant value-chain categories.

• Evaluating data collection processes involving third parties, estimates, assumptions, supplier information, industry factors, and externally sourced emissions data.

• Understanding financed emissions and their relevance to banks, insurers, asset managers, investors, and other financial institutions with climate-related exposures.

• Assessing controls over value-chain emissions information, estimation methodologies, data dependencies, calculation boundaries, and disclosure completeness.

Module 9: Climate Metrics, Targets, and Performance Indicators

• Auditing climate-related metrics covering emissions, emissions intensity, energy consumption, climate exposure, targets, progress measures, and operational indicators.

• Evaluating climate targets, including baseline periods, target boundaries, time horizons, interim milestones, methodologies, and performance measurement systems.

• Assessing the reliability of management claims concerning target achievement, transition progress, renewable energy use, carbon reduction, and climate performance.

• Testing consistency between disclosed climate metrics, internal management reports, operational systems, financial information, and supporting source documentation.

Module 10: Climate Finance, Sustainable Investment, and Transition Finance

• Principles of green finance, sustainable finance, transition finance, climate investment, climate-linked financing, and climate-related capital allocation.

• Auditing green bonds, sustainability-linked financing, transition instruments, climate-related investment portfolios, eligibility criteria, and use-of-proceeds information.

• Evaluating climate-related financing assumptions, investment classifications, performance indicators, covenants, commitments, and financial reporting implications.

• Assessing controls against greenwashing risks, unsupported climate claims, inconsistent classifications, inappropriate metrics, and inadequate evidence supporting sustainable finance disclosures.

Module 11: Internal Controls Over Climate-Related Financial Disclosures

• Designing and auditing internal control frameworks covering climate data collection, calculations, reporting, review, approvals, reconciliations, and disclosure processes.

• Evaluating segregation of duties, access controls, change management, data validation, management review controls, system interfaces, and documentation.

• Identifying control deficiencies affecting greenhouse gas data, climate metrics, scenario analysis, targets, transition plans, and financial disclosure information.

• Establishing control testing approaches that connect climate-related information with financial reporting controls, enterprise risk management, and sustainability governance.

Module 12: Climate Disclosure Audit Procedures and Evidence

• Developing risk-based audit procedures for climate-related disclosures, including planning, materiality, risk assessment, evidence gathering, testing, and conclusion development.

• Applying substantive analytical procedures, inspection, observation, inquiry, recalculation, confirmation, data analytics, and control testing to climate information.

• Evaluating audit evidence from internal systems, third-party providers, consultants, emissions databases, models, estimates, and management representations.

• Documenting audit work, professional judgments, assumptions, limitations, exceptions, findings, management responses, and conclusions in an auditable manner.

Module 13: Sustainability Assurance and ISSA 5000

• Understanding the purpose, scope, principles, and application of ISSA 5000 as a global sustainability assurance framework covering climate and other sustainability information.

• Evaluating limited and reasonable assurance approaches, including differences in risk assessment, evidence requirements, procedures, assurance work, and reporting.

• Assessing ethics, independence, professional competence, quality management, engagement acceptance, evidence sufficiency, and documentation within sustainability assurance engagements.

• Preparing for the transition from existing greenhouse gas assurance practices toward ISSA 5000, including the withdrawal of ISAE 3410 from 15 December 2026.

Module 14: Climate Data Analytics, Technology, and Emerging Audit Tools

• Applying data analytics, automated testing, continuous monitoring, exception reporting, and visualization techniques to climate-related financial and emissions information.

• Examining artificial intelligence, machine learning, process mining, satellite data, remote sensing, digital measurement technologies, and automated climate data systems.

• Evaluating technology-related risks involving data lineage, algorithmic assumptions, model reliability, system interfaces, cybersecurity, privacy, and automated calculations.

• Designing technology-enabled audit procedures that improve climate data validation, anomaly detection, evidence gathering, monitoring, and assurance efficiency.

Module 15: Climate Disclosure Risks, Greenwashing, and Assurance Challenges

• Identifying risks of incomplete, misleading, inconsistent, exaggerated, unsupported, or poorly evidenced climate-related statements and financial disclosures.

• Evaluating consistency between climate commitments, operational performance, financial information, transition plans, emissions data, and externally communicated sustainability claims.

• Assessing greenwashing risks, selective disclosure, inappropriate metrics, unsupported targets, uncertain assumptions, and weaknesses in management evidence.

• Developing audit responses to disclosure uncertainty, estimation risk, model risk, data limitations, third-party dependencies, and rapidly changing climate information.

Module 16: Advanced Climate Audit Strategy and Future Developments

• Developing enterprise-wide climate audit strategies that integrate financial reporting, sustainability disclosures, risk management, controls, governance, and assurance.

• Preparing for evolving climate disclosure requirements, sustainability assurance adoption, greenhouse gas reporting amendments, regulatory developments, and jurisdictional implementation differences.

• Examining emerging developments in climate finance, carbon markets, nature-related risks, financed emissions, transition technologies, climate data platforms, and AI-enabled assurance.

• Establishing sustainable climate audit capabilities through skills development, data governance, continuous monitoring, quality management, professional judgment, and ongoing methodological improvement.

Training Approach

This course will be delivered by our skilled trainers who have vast knowledge and experience as expert professionals in the fields. The course is taught in English and through a mix of theory, practical activities, group discussion and case studies. Course manuals and additional training materials will be provided to the participants upon completion of the training.

Tailor-Made Course

This course can also be tailor-made to meet organization requirement. For further inquiries, please contact us on: Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com Tel: +254 721 331 808

Training Venue 

The training will be held at our Upskill Training Centre. We also offer training for a group (at a discount of 10% to 50%) at requested location all over the world. The Onsite course fee covers the course tuition, training materials, two break refreshments, buffet lunch, airport transfers, Upskill gift package, and guided tour.

Visa application, travel expenses, dinners, accommodation, insurance, and other personal expenses are catered by the participant

Certification

Participants will be issued with Upskill certificate upon completion of this course.

Airport Pickup and Accommodation

Airport pickup and accommodation is arranged upon request. For booking contact our Training Coordinator through Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com, +254 721 331 808

Terms of Payment:

Unless otherwise agreed between the two parties’ payment of the course fee should be done 3 working days before commencement of the training so as to enable us to prepare better.