Sustainable finance: Challenges in creating master’s degree programs and textbooks

The reason for writing this article was the release of the first Russian language textbook on sustainable finance. Its critical analysis, presented in the article, is aimed at creating more comprehensive textbooks on sustainable finance in the future. In addition, in recent years, the author has been actively involved in reviewing university curricula in the field of finance, the results of which can be used to draw an extremely disappointing conclusion about the significant lag in teaching finance in Russia compared to the best world examples. Against the background of the emergence of a new paradigm of finance in connection with the creation and strengthening of the sustainable development model, Russian teachers are guided not just by the old traditional paradigm of finance, but by its version from about 20 years ago. The article contains proposals for the formation of a program of courses on sustainable finance, as well as for taking this concept into account in traditional university courses on finance and individual industry financial disciplines. The author’s view on the selection of literature for courses on sustainable finance is also offered.