Stanley Park Climate Finance Scholarships

About

Financial markets represent one of the most powerful ways to drive public and private action on climate. To meet the Paris Agreement climate targets, climate investments need to increase rapidly and decisively in the coming years. Though public and private finance almost doubled between 2011 and 2020, a vastly larger scale of climate investment must be activated. There is an urgent need for highly trained professionals, in governments, intergovernmental organizations, and financial institutions, who can design and implement creative new methods for large-scale climate finance. The Stanley Park Climate Finance Scholarships aims to cultivate a new generation of professionals equipped to integrate expertise in climate and finance to address the climate crisis. This scholarship will fully cover tuition for three students enrolling in the inaugural cohort of the MS in Climate Finance program.

Eligibility

The Stanley Park Climate Finance Scholarships are open to incoming full-time students in the Master of Science in Climate Finance program with demonstrated financial need and who are not supported by their workplaces, thereby increasing access to students with an intention of contributing to the public and non-profit sectors, and in particular those from countries with emerging and developing economies. These students are also expected to enrich and diversify perspectives within the group, with positive impacts for the entire cohort.

Scholarship recipients will demonstrate their commitment to addressing the structural aspects of global climate finance, to address the barriers and increase financing in critical geographies and for critical technologies. The ideal candidates will show a deep interest in addressing the distortions of climate finance and promoting solutions to substantially increase climate investments. Competitive candidates will have a strong academic track record and can effectively communicate how their goals are in alignment with Columbia Climate School’s mission.

Application Procedures & Deadlines

The Stanley Park Climate Finance Scholarships will be awarded through a competitive application process. For applicants who are semi-finalists, the process will include a mandatory interview.

To apply, please complete the admission application, by the January 15 priority deadline. Candidates who submit the admission application by the priority deadline will be given access to the separate Stanley Park Climate Finance Scholarship application, which consists of a maximum 500-word statement of interest, financial information, and other optional supporting materials.

The statement of purpose prompt is:

Please write a statement of purpose of 500 words or fewer addressing the following:

Describe the specific work you aim to accomplish in the field of climate finance. In your response, highlight your strategies for addressing the unique financial challenges and opportunities faced by developing and emerging economies and how the Master of Science in Climate Finance will help you achieve those objectives.