GARP SCR Required Readings 2026: Can the Online Articles Appear on the Exam?
- Kateryna Myrko
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Candidates preparing for the 2026 GARP Sustainability and Climate Risk Certificate often concentrate on the official SCR book while treating the online articles as optional background reading.
That is a serious mistake.
GARP explicitly states that the SCR curriculum includes selected online materials from academics, industry organizations, and practitioners. These readings are required, and their content may be reflected in SCR exam questions. GARP’s study-materials page goes further, explaining that the exam covers selected online readings in addition to the official SCR Exam Book.
Therefore, candidates should treat the required readings as part of the official curriculum—not as supplementary material to review only when time permits.
Which 2026 SCR Chapters Have Required Online Readings?
The official 2026 required-reading list includes six readings across four curriculum chapters.
Chapter 2: Sustainability
Candidates must study:
UNEP FI Principles for Responsible Banking, specifically pages 3–38
UN PRI Principles for Responsible Investment
The associated learning objectives require candidates to understand the responsible-banking principles, measures banks can take to implement them, examples of implementation, and the six Principles for Responsible Investment.
These readings may support questions about how financial institutions incorporate sustainability commitments into governance, strategy, target-setting, client relationships, and investment activity.
Chapter 3: Climate Change Risk
The required reading is:
Risk Management Fundamentals, published by GARP in December 2022
Candidates are expected to understand the major financial-risk categories and how organizations identify, measure, and manage credit, market, liquidity, and operational risk.
This reading helps connect climate risk with traditional risk-management concepts. Candidates should be able to recognize how physical and transition risks can influence established financial-risk categories rather than treating climate risk as an entirely separate subject.
Chapter 4: Sustainability and Climate Policy, Culture, and Governance
Two required readings apply:
A Call for Action: Climate Change as a Source of Financial Risk, from the Network for Greening the Financial System
The GHG Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, specifically Chapters 1, 3, and 4
For the NGFS material, candidates should understand the six recommendations directed at central banks, supervisors, policymakers, and financial institutions. They must also understand how these recommendations support the financial sector’s contribution to the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
For the GHG Protocol reading, candidates should understand greenhouse-gas accounting and reporting principles, together with the purpose and importance of organizational and operational boundaries.
Chapter 6: Climate Risk Measurement and Management
The required reading is:
Implementing the Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, specifically pages 52–54
Candidates should understand the advantages and limitations of common carbon-exposure and footprint metrics. They must also be able to calculate weighted average carbon intensity, total carbon emissions, and carbon footprint when the necessary information is provided.
This means candidates should not only memorize metric definitions. They should practise selecting, calculating, and interpreting the correct measure.
Are All Online Climate Articles Examinable?
No. The exam is not based on every article, report, or sustainability publication available online.
The relevant materials are the readings specifically identified by GARP as required for the 2026 curriculum. Candidates should use GARP’s official required-readings page and the 2026 SCR Study Guide and Learning Objectives to determine what belongs within the exam syllabus. The Study Guide lists the required online readings, associated learning objectives, and the number of exam questions allocated to each curriculum chapter.
Optional articles can improve general understanding, but they should not take priority over the official book, the listed readings, and their learning objectives.
How Should Candidates Study the Required Readings?
Do not approach these materials as general background reading. Study them actively.
For each required document:
Check the exact pages or chapters assigned by GARP.
Read the associated learning objectives before beginning.
Identify the definitions, principles, recommendations, and calculations connected to those objectives.
Create concise notes in your own words.
Connect the reading to the relevant chapter in the SCR book.
Practise applying the material through questions and short scenarios.
The learning objectives are particularly important because they show what candidates are expected to understand or perform. For example, a long report may contain extensive contextual information, but GARP may assign only certain pages and specify a narrow set of examinable skills.
Should You Read Them Before or After the SCR Book?
A practical approach is to study the relevant SCR chapter first and then complete its required online readings immediately afterward.
This allows the book to provide the main structure while the external materials add official frameworks, standards, calculations, and institutional perspectives.
Candidates should not leave all six readings until the final week. GARP estimates that candidates generally require approximately 100–150 hours of preparation and discourages last-minute study because of the volume of material covered.
Final Answer GARP SCR Required Readings 2026
Yes, the required online articles can appear on the 2026 GARP SCR exam.
They are officially part of the curriculum and should receive the same serious attention as the SCR Exam Book. Candidates should focus on the readings listed by GARP, the specified page ranges, and the related learning objectives.
The safest preparation strategy is clear: study the complete official SCR book, complete every required online reading, and use the 2026 Study Guide and Learning Objectives as the definitive checklist for exam coverage.
Unlock your potential with our comprehensive GARP SCR (Sustainability and Climate Risk) certificate practice exams and study packages!
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