Policy of green financing of companies

Abstract

Purpose: The policy of green financing of companies, together with the energy crisis caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, has returned as a significant research problem requiring a new opening strategy. The research analyzes the policy of green financing of companies from the perspective of the changing loan portfolio of banks. The fundamental objective of the research is to identify the scale of their involvement in green financing as well as an exegesis of the stimulants and destimulants accompanying the process during periods of financial and economic instability. Design approach: The paper uses the results of a questionnaire survey of the 10 largest commercial banks in Poland. The research was conducted in the second quarter of 2021, that is in the situation of a slow recovery of the EU countries from the coronavirus pandemic and a rising awareness of the urgent necessity to rebuild the European economy in which its new green deal was embedded. Findings: The con-ducted research shows that national banks have joined the green financing process by hedging their investment portfolio against ESG risk. However, their involvement in financing green in-vestments has been cautious and frequently divergent. Some of them quickly joined the process. In contrast, a significant part of them accepted green financing making it conditional upon rapid progress of sustainable economic development and transparency in green investment financing. Oryginality/value: The research undertaken in the study fairly clearly confirms the fact that there is a growing interest in the Polish banking sector to increase the share of green loans in the investment portfolio. Although the involvement of banks in financing green investments is cautious and frequently divergent, the confirmation of the European Commission’s action towards the implementation of the Fit for 55 package, in spite of the energy crisis, also makes it possible to positively assess the banks’ anticipation of more transparent terms and conditions for green financing. Keywords: green financing policy, ESG package, EU taxonomy, energy crisis, ESG risk, bank risk management. Category of the paper: viewpoint.