Banks Financing the Green Economy: A Review of Current Research

Abstract

Achieving the goals of sustainable development and the transition to a green economy requires significant financial resources. Banks are active participants in the financing of projects and industries with a positive environmental and social impact. In this regard, the emerging responsible banking and its regulation are of scientific and practical interest, which ensures the relevance of the study. The aim of the study is to generalize and systematize the results of scientific research on the participation of banks in financing the green economy. In the context of the historical approach, the authors apply the methods of critical analysis, logical generalization, systematization, and grouping. The research is based on scientific publications by Russian and foreign authors. As a result, the authors substantiated the correlation of the concepts “green”,“sustainable”,“responsible” bank, and identified that such green financial instruments as green bonds, in some countries — green loans, green deposits, green leasing, and green insurance are being introduced into banking practices. Responsible banking is regulated using monetary and macroprudential policy instruments; in some countries, incentive-based regulation of responsible banking is mandatory. The authors concluded that responsible banking is moving towards the transformation of classic products and services into environmentally and socially oriented ones, accompanied by the transformation of business processes, management culture, and the content of banking policy. Responsible banking contributes to ensuring financial stability, but the regulator needs to use macroprudential tools to timely identify a green credit bubble, including through climate and environmental stress testing. Prospects for further research are aimed at assessing the impact of green financial instruments on the bank’s performance, the role of responsible banking in achieving sustainable development goals, at finding the most effective monetary and macroprudential tools to stimulate responsible banking and ensure financial stability.