Unit 1. EU ESG Landscape
– ESG, CSR, and Sustainability.
– Drivers of Regulatory Acceleration.
– Regulatory and Standard Setters mapping.
– THE GREEN DEAL: The European Union’s Sustainability Regulation Agenda.
– Climate Law: Fit for 55:
— Climate and Energy.
— EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) Reform.
— Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
— Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF).
— Effort-Sharing Regulation (ESR).
— Sustainable and Smart Mobility.
– Circular Economy.
– Biodiversity.
– Sustainable Finance.
– Sustainability Reporting.
– Sustainable Value Chain.
– Diversity and Equal Rights.

Unit 2. The Impact of Sustainability on the Internal Audit Framework
– Understanding the complexity of sustainability governance, strategy, business impacts, risks, and opportunities.
– Advisory and assurance.
– Integrated internal audit: approach and priorities.
– Sustainability and internal audit risk assessment.
– Internal control and data issues: comparability, availability, and reliability.
– Stakeholder engagement and communications.

Unit 3. Materiality Assessment
– Materiality assessment approaches.
– The extended enterprise and the value chain.
– Stakeholder engagement.
– Sustainability due diligence.
– Materiality assessment methodology under CSRD and ESRS.
– Roles of internal audit in the materiality assessment.
 
Unit 4. Sustainability Reporting
– Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
– European Sustainability Reporting Framework: CSRD and Sustainable Finance Regulation.
– Overview of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).
– ESRS: Environment.
– ESRS: Social.
– ESRS: Governance.
– CSRD interoperability with ISSB, SEC, and GRI Standards.
– Roles of internal audit in sustainability reporting.

Unit 5. Sustainable Finance
– Sustainable finance overview.
– EU taxonomy.
– Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
– Sustainability factors and preferences in MiFID II and the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD).
– Climate benchmark standards (CTD and PAB).
– ESG Pillar 3 disclosure requirements (CRR).
– EU Green Bond Standard.
– ESG ratings.
– Roles of internal audit in sustainable finance.

Unit 6. Sustainability Governance
– Landscape of corporate governance and sustainability.
– Principles of corporate governance and sustainability.
– Sustainability governance maturity: From compliance to strategy.
– Embedding sustainability into the board, including:
— Sustainability and board structure.
— Sustainability and audit committees.
— Sustainability and strategy.
— Sustainability and integrated risk management.
— Sustainability and the internal control integrated framework.
— Sustainability reporting oversight.
– The role of internal audit in sustainability governance.

 
Unit 7. Internal Audit’s Relationship with Independent Assurance Providers
– Current practices for assuring sustainability reporting.
– Standards on sustainability assurance.
– Subject matter: Beyond sustainability data.
– CSRD assurance requirements.
– The role of the internal auditors in the selection of assurance providers.
– Coordination and reliance.
– Combined assurance.