Study options
- Starting in
- September 2025
- Location
- Mile End
- Fees
- Home: £15,250
Overseas: £33,500
EU/EEA/Swiss students
What you'll study
Learn about emerging strategies, technologies, and collaborative efforts that link business activities with social and ecological sustainability. Examine how global inequalities and development trajectories influence the capacity of different regions to transition to a sustainable economy.
MSc Global Business and Sustainability offers a unique and enriching learning experience designed to enhance both your academic journey and professional development. Central to the programme are two linked Foundation modules running over two semesters, where you'll engage with conceptual issues, critical thinking skills, mixed methods training and collaborative group work. These modules will equip you with a core skill set for addressing real-world sustainability challenges and foster a strong sense of community among your peers, helping you build sustainability-oriented professional networks for your future career.
Engage with key topics such as
- sustainable global supply chains
- climate change risk and resilience for business and society
- green growth, green new deals and just transitions
- sustainable finance
- the role of business in shaping ecological transitions
Alongside the Foundation modules, you'll take specialised modules including Global Governance and Sustainability Transitions, Eco-Business Strategy and Global Supply Chains, and World Economy and Development in the first semester. In the second semester, you'll explore Sustainable Finance, the Business of Climate Risk, and a chosen elective, culminating in the submission of your dissertation in the third semester.
This comprehensive structure is designed to provide you with both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed to lead in the field of global business and sustainability. Read more about the programme.
Structure
- Seven compulsory modules
- One chosen elective module
- Dissertation
Compulsory/Core modules
This module examines processes of economic "globalisation" and changes in international business over time. The focus is on the multinational firm in the context of trends in the world economy since the 1970s. It provides a critical and comparative perspective on the nature and scope of international business, theories of international trade and its regulation, and conceptualisations of global supply chains. It uses sector and country case studies to encourage an applied understanding of differentiated political-economic relationships, processes and outcomes.
How are climate-related and environmental risks affecting - and going to affect - the world? And importantly, the world of business? This module will equip students to understand and critically engage with anthropogenic climate change as an issue that presents new and compounding risks and challenges to businesses, workers, and society at large. The course will cover climate change and its entangled relationship between natural resources, biodiversity, and processes of commodification, and in the context of how firms and the wider communities adapt and mitigate these risks.
This module engages with the institutional, theoretical, strategic and ethical dimensions of global sustainability transitions. Students will learn the history of international institutions such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the United Nations Climate Convention and critically reflect on their role in shaping the global policy context in which sustainability is pursued. Competing approaches to sustainability transitions, such as green growth, degrowth, the circular economy and Green New Deals are explored and compared in terms of their implications for state/business/civil society collaboration and appraised in terms of effectiveness, feasibility and justice.
This module explores and debates the embeddedness of business in the Earth System. Students examine key relations between corporate strategies and the environment by introducing topical issues in climate change and biodiversity loss and examining emerging eco-business strategies in industries that are foundational to societies and economies across the planet (e.g. food, energy, transport). In examining these industries students will evaluate current consumption and production patterns and their environmental effects, critically appraise a range of eco-business strategies, develop innovative strategic thinking on political-economic challenges specific to each industry, and appraise the ways in which businesses can help build liveable futures based on intergenerational justice.
The dissertation forms an important part of the assessment of the MSc Global Business and Sustainability Programme, carrying a weighting of four modules (60 credits), i.e. one third of the entire Programme. The dissertation requires a demonstration of ability to carry out an original research plan and independent investigation into an area of interest. The investigation can rely on primary data independently collected by the student, on secondary data already available in the literature, or a mix of both. The dissertation will reflect skills of formulating research questions, synthesising information and analysing data, drawing insights and conclusions, and written communication.
This module is the first in the two-part Foundations series running in Semesters A and B. It introduces a range of key concepts and theories essential to understanding the relationship between global business and the diverse challenges of sustainability and climate change across the globe. The module explores this relationship by focusing on four themes: Business and the Sustainability Challenge, Power and Institutions, Markets and Corporations, and State and Civil Society. The module draws on a range of case studies, showing how theory can be applied to real world business and sustainability challenges.
This module is the second in the two-part Foundations series running in Semesters A and B. It provides students with methodological approaches towards addressing diverse challenges of sustainability from both research and business perspectives. The module will engage with materials from Foundations 1: Conceptual Models for Business and Sustainability to unpack epistemological and ontological issues and reflect on methodologies used. It will explore the various steps in conducting robust research on sustainability (e.g., literature review, data collection techniques, data analysis). The module is designed to aid students¿ progress towards their final programme assessment.
This module will explore new social and green financial instruments and investment strategies that seek to deliver on both shareholder returns and sustainable development goals. It will cover trends and models including social and green finance, impact investing, blended finance, public private partnerships, microfinance and social impact bonds. We will draw on real-life case studies from the Global North and the Global South to examine their potential for contributing towards sustainable development and low-carbon transition objectives across different contexts.
Elective modules
This module explores how the management of global supply chains involves negotiating a multifaceted process of value creation and capture cutting across firms' and states' borders and from the environment. It maps the relations between firms and between firms and other actors and explores how supply chains are embedded in different environmental and social contexts. The module explores these issues by focusing on some of the largest corporate-controlled global supply chains in history, e.g. food and supermarkets, fashion retailers and mobile phone producers.
Corporate Social Responsibility will offer students an introductory and in-depth module unpacking the sensitive relationship between corporations and issues of social justice, environmental destruction (animal, climate, pollution, ecologies) and labour rights. At a time when globalisation is perceived as a threat to international business addressing inequalities across the global North and South, this module will provide postgraduate students with indispensable knowledge about key issues facing corporations today. The module will also address both philosophical issues that include ethical theories, moral debates and social scientific perspectives as well as a grounding in real life case studies and access to a local stakeholder engagement project with charities in Tower Hamlets and Poplar. Specific modules will cover a wide-range of subjects including: 'greening' management (reducing emissions, waste management, protecting biodiversity), workers rights (trade unions, ILO, outsourcing, supply-chains), sustainable consumption (ethical marketing, corporate lobbying, consumerism), and promoting democratic processes (governance, accountability, stakeholder engagement).
This module will address the social challenges and opportunities and how social enterprise should offer solutions to such challenges and create social value from such opportunities. It will give students an overview of social entrepreneurship and social value creation. It will equip students with a strong understanding of foundational theories of entrepreneurship, innovation, social problems and policy. This module will introduce students to key concepts in the historical development of social enterprise and innovation and to its changing role in society and the economy. Furthermore, this module will also discuss social value creation in digital economy.
Assessment
You will be assessed through a mixture of traditional and non-traditional methods during the programme.
These include:
- written essays
- group presentations
- posters
- podcasts
- briefing documents
- exams
- critical reviews
Dissertation
Your dissertation can be either practice based, involving independent empirical research in a business or other organisation, or theory-based, drawing on critical analysis of existing business sustainability strategies and frameworks. Throughout your dissertation process, you'll receive close guidance from individual supervisors to ensure your work is impactful and relevant.
Teaching
Study in an engaging and dynamic learning environment that combines lectures, workshops, peer-to-peer learning, dissertation supervision and independent research and study.
You’ll be taught by academics who are experts in their fields, including global supply chains, water management, sustainable finance, energy, agriculture, infrastructure, digital technologies, corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. You’ll also hear from guest speakers in businesses and organisations including Friends of the Earth, EY, LUSH Cosmetics, B Lab, the Trade Justice Movement and the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation, and have the opportunity to attend relevant events and seminars in Queen Mary's Centre on Labour, Sustainability and Global Production.
Programme Co-directors
Where you'll learn
Facilities
Campus
Teaching is based at Queen Mary’s main Mile End campus, one of the largest self-contained residential campuses in the capital. Our location, in the heart of London, offers a rich cultural environment.
We have invested £105m in new facilities over the past five years to offer our students an exceptional learning environment. Recent developments include the £39m Graduate Centre, providing 7,700 square metres of learning and teaching space.
The campus is 15 minutes from Central London by tube, where you will have access to many of the University of London’s facilities, including the Senate House library.
About the School
School of Business and Management
The School of Business and Management has a reputation as a socially engaged management school, with an innovative, multidisciplinary, mindful and responsible approach. We invite our students to ask incisive questions, to challenge their assumptions, and to search for solutions to real-world challenges.
We ensure students experience innovative and engaging educational pathways, alongside supportive staff and excellent research facilities.
The School is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which ensures that the highest standards of excellence in teaching, research, curriculum, and learner success are met.
In the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), the School of Business and Management dramatically moved up the Times Higher Education rankings. Among 108 UK business schools, the School now ranks:
- 22nd for overall research quality (up from 39th in REF2014)
- 28th for research outputs (up from 34th)
- 12th for research impact (up from 24th)
- 21st for research environment (up from 59th)
Queen Mary is also part of the Russell Group - a body of leading UK universities dedicated to research and teaching excellence.
Career paths
Graduates of the MSc Global Business and Sustainability program are well-equipped for diverse career paths across various sectors. With a strong foundation in sustainability and global business practices, you can pursue roles in the public, private, and third sectors, including:
- Sustainability strategy for global corporations
- International development
- Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
- Government regulations and policy
- Politics and diplomacy
- Sustainable finance
- Management consultancies
These roles allow you to make a meaningful impact on global sustainability challenges, driving positive change across industries and regions.
Fees and funding
Full-time study
September 2025 | 1 year
- Home: £15,250
- Overseas: £33,500
EU/EEA/Swiss students
Conditional deposit
Home: Not applicable
Overseas: £2000
Information about deposits
Queen Mary alumni can get a £1000, 10% or 20% discount on their fees depending on the programme of study. Find out more about the Alumni Loyalty Award
Funding
There are a number of ways you can fund your postgraduate degree.
- Scholarships and bursaries
- Postgraduate loans (UK students)
- Country-specific scholarships for international students
Our Advice and Counselling service offers specialist support on financial issues, which you can access as soon as you apply for a place at Queen Mary. Before you apply, you can access our funding guides and advice on managing your money:
Entry requirements
UK
Degree requirements
A 2:1 or above at undergraduate level in a Humanities or Social Sciences subject.
Find out more about how to apply for our postgraduate taught courses.
International
English language requirements
The English language requirements for our programmes are indicated by English bands, and therefore the specific test and score acceptable is based on the band assigned to the academic department within which your chosen course of study is administered. Note that for some academic departments there are programmes with non-standard English language requirements.
The English Language requirements for entry to postgraduate taught in the School of Business and Management falls within the following English band:
Band 4: IELTS (Academic) minimum score 6.5 overall with 6.0 in each of Writing, Listening, Reading and Speaking
We accept a range of English tests and qualifications categorised in our English bands for you to demonstrate your level of English Language proficiency. See all accepted English tests that we deem equivalent to these IELTS scores.
Visas and immigration
Find out how to apply for a student visa.